Rabbit
by The Midnight Fox
Summary: "My name is Alice Munro; I am the youngest daughter of Colonel Edmund Munro of the British army. I am sixteen years of age and am traveling alone for the first time in my life. I exist, and have always existed, in a world of complete silence. I have been deaf, you see, for as long as I can remember. This New world will be a test for me, one I am determined to pass." AU Alice/Uncas
1. Chapter 1-The New World

**Rabbit**

A Last of the Mohicans Fanfiction

(I own nothing, I make no money of this, please don't sue me)

My name is Alice Munro; I am the youngest daughter of Colonel Edmund Munro of the British army. I am sixteen years of age and am traveling alone for the first time in my life. As I look out over the town of Albany, a new world mecca of trade that hugs the Hudson River, I can't help but feel a small shiver of anticipation running through my veins.

I have arrived here by ship, into what I sense must be a great hubbub of noise. In the briefest of moments I will see it all very clearly; the family I am about to join, a country in turmoil, and my own life turned upside down. At the moment however, all I know is that I have been sent to live with our distant relations, the Cameron's, in the colonies of the New World. As I look around the bustling port of Albany I think to myself '_This is why you came, it's what you chose._' And that is where my story begins.

People are pushing past me as I stand at the top of the gang plank, searching the gathered crowd for Mrs. Cameron, who I was told would be meeting me. My nose is assailed by the many smells of the port; fresh fish, sweat from many bodies in close proximity, and the faintest odor of perfume from further inland. I rely on my sense of smell, as well as my eyesight, to let me know what is going on around me.

I exist, and have always existed, in a world of complete silence. Sound, for me, is something imagined though I can sometimes get a feeling for what something must sound like; the thunder of horses hooves on a cobbled street, the vibration of music through the floors of the London opera house, and the faintest vibration of my sisters voice when I used to lay with my face against her chest.

I have been deaf, you see, for as long as I can remember. An illness when I was very young robbed me of my hearing and, as such, I never learned how to speak. Though I was graced with a pleasing face and raised with the impeccable manners expected of a noble woman, my deafness has made me un-marriable among the British elite. I believe they fear that I would pass the deafness on to any children I might produce and therefore, disregard me as a candidate for their sons. I think Papa hoped that the men of the colonies would be less choosy.

I see Mrs. Alexandra Cameron waving to me from farther down the port, and gathering my skirts I hurry down the plank to meet her and the children I will be responsible for looking after. Her husband if my father distant cousin. John Cameron's father and my own were boyhood playmates and exchanged letters for years until John father past several months ago. My father felt the need to check in on his favorite cousin's son from time to time and it was that letter that changed my life. Alexandra smiles at me warmly as I approach and holds out her arms to embrace me.

"Ah, our little English cousin," I see her mouth forming these words and though I cannot hear them I sense they are spoken warmly. I allow her to kiss me and smile as she lays her hand against my cheek.

"How was your journey?" she asks. I grin and sign back that it was fine, fair weather and calm seas. She watches my quick gestures and appears unperturbed by them, something I am unaccustomed to with anyone other than Cora.

"I am Alexandra," she introduces herself "I am the mother of these two ruffian's." I nod, smiling, as I turn my face down upon the two children that hide shyly behind their mother; a boy and a girl, young, no older than three and five respectively.

"You have come a very long way, my girl," Alexandra comments, looking a bit sad for me. "I hope you will be content in our colonies."

Looking around her to the wilderness beyond, I don't know how I could not be content, surrounded by all of this nature. Back home, the pastures and fields of our family home have been my refuge, much to my father and my governess's discontent. I often escape to be with the horses and have learned to be more comfortable with the non-judgmental animals than I have most people.

It does not show on my flesh that I enjoy being out of doors, along with my deafness I seem to have an inability to tan. My skin, when exposed long term to sunlight, merely burns. Once the burn heals my skin ultimately returns to its natural translucent state, making me look rather sickly. The only evidence that I spend any time out of doors is my nearly platinum blonde hair, which I'm currently wearing in a braid that wraps around the back of my head.

I find everything here so very beautiful at first glance and so very different from where I have come from. The air feels charged and wild, and the people as wild as the air. I see all kinds milling about the market, English and Red Man alike. The Red Man is so unlike anything I had expected, even with Duncan's stories. They wear so little clothing, and painted faces and hair longer than any woman's. How could I not be excited to be here?

"I'm afraid this land can be deceptive," Alexandra says to me after she lays a hand on my arm to draw my attention back to her. I can read lips well enough, as long as the person in not speaking too quickly.

"Your father has sent you to a very troubled, dangerous territory. We have many Indians on the frontier, some friendly, some not. I fear this will not be the experience you were expecting."

I give her as reassuring a smile as I can and sign 'It cannot be worse that the high society of England, those people will eat you alive.' At this Alexandra laughs and loops her arm through mine, leading me into the bustling town.

"Well, we don't have tea time here or grand parties, but I do hope you'll be happy with us." Alexandra says as she pats my arm.

She leads me through the market place as the children run a head to look at the array of dresses, dishes, toys, anything a household in the city might need. Alexandra smiles fondly at them before turning her face back to me.

"John will meet us at the wagon, after he collects your luggage." she explains, moving her fingers nimbly and expertly. I notice a few people staring at us but choose to ignore them. "Your father has arranged for you to be brought back to town several times a week for tea with Lady Corwin."

I make a face at this. Tea with noble women is something I have been expected to engage in my entire life, but not an activity I particularly enjoy. I am unable to join in their conversation and the ladies are typically ill at ease in my company as they do not know how to talk to me. I spend these events bored out of my mind and staring into space. Still, it is part of the requirements my father set for my coming here so I will have to endure it.

"Why would you send her at all?" I remember Cora demanding of my father at that first dinner after it had been agreed that I would go. Cora did not like the idea of my being sent away and especially not to somewhere as dangerous as the Colonies.

"I am sending her because she is useless here." my father had answered, forgetting that I could read lips and probably assuming I wouldn't follow the conversation if he didn't sign. This happened a lot back home and I learned how he truly felt about me at an early age. Cora was his favorite, my tall dark haired sister with her quick temper and clever wit. I was simply the shadow he walked around. "Besides, she wants to go."

"Only because you continually make her feel unwanted." I watched Cora admonish him. My father had hardened his face and glared down at his mutton.

"She's wasted in the high society of London." he had mouthed brutally. "Perhaps the Colonies will have more use for a deaf girl than the families here."

These were the words that, though said rather bitterly, were not quite the insult one might take them for. What my father referred to was my way with animals. I had coaxed and tamed many of the more skittish of my father's horses, even the ones the Master of horse had been ready to give up on. I did this with no words, no riding crop or whip. I calmed them with my presence, my hands, and my way of mimicking their stillness. I had yet to meet a horse, or any animal for that matter, that I couldn't calm and bring around to trusting me.

Alexandra taps my arm to get my attention. I blink at her, coming out of my bittersweet thoughts of home.

"There is John now." she mouths. I turned to see her tall, lean husband hoisting my trunk into the back of a wagon. I have never met John Cameron, but I could see a vague family resemblance in the eyes and he turns to smile at me in welcome.

The children run to him and I imagine they must be squealing with delight. He pulls the boy into his arms and swings him about affectionately while the girl tugs on his pant leg, wanting to join the fun. He turns to take in his wife as she and I approach and puts an arm around her.

"This is Colonel Munro's youngest, then?" I see him mouth to her. When she nods, he hands her the boy and comes forward to wrap his fingers around mine.

"You are most welcome in our home." he mouths, I can see by how wide he's opening his mouth that he is yelling these words. The children giggle and his wife lays a hand on his arm.

"You don't have to yell, dear. Just speak while looking at her and try not to talk too quickly." Alexandra corrects him kindly. He looks embarrassed as he releases my hand. I am used to this as well, those that aren't immediately put off by my handicap try to compensate by yelling, as if that will make me magically hear them. John Cameron means well and I forgive him for the mistake.

"Journey went well?" he asks, following his wife's advice by speaking more slowly. I nod.

"Good, that's good. It seems you are to stay with us for the foreseeable future. Is your sister to join us at some point?"

I sign that she might come to Albany, but not likely to the Cameron's. She will be traveling with her fiancé, Duncan, to the fort in several weeks time. It is possible I will be sent for at some point thought I doubt it. Alexandra translates these words for me and Johns brown furrows.

"You are not to travel with them?" he mouths, obviously confused that I may be expected to travel there on my own later. I give him a smile that I'm sure is sadder then I intend it to be.

"He may not send for me at all," I sign to him "I am more his cross to bear than his child."

John appears scandalized by this revelation and exchanges a glance with his wife. John Cameron has a lot to learn about his father's favorite cousin and not all of it will be appealing I am afraid. He shakes himself after a moment and smiles at me again, leaning down to cup his hands so that he can help me crawl into the back of the wagon. I thank him with my smile for this and scramble into the back with the children. The girl, Lucy I will learn is her name, crawls into my lap and pets my hair in wonder. The boy sits across the way, simply grinning.

Alexandra and John crawl into the front and have a conversation that I cannot see as the wagon begins to move. I don't need to see their lips to know they are talking about me, about the strangeness of Colonel Munro sending his youngest to live rustically with distant relations and the strangeness of not having me travel to the fort with my sister.

It is not a decision that anyone other than myself will understand. I do not expect my father to send for me, I do not expect to see him while I am in the New World, and I do not expect to find a husband in the colonies. All I expect is to make myself useful to the Cameron's in whatever way I can, and maybe have control over my own life for the first time.

**The Cabin:**

When I first enter the Cameron's cabin I think to myself '_Perhaps Cora was right when she told me I would regret this decision_'. The log cabin is small, cramped, and one room for the, now five, of us to rattle around in. The floor is dirt and the surrounding area is nothing but woods. I think then about how stern my sister had looked, putting me on that ship, how she refused to wave until the very last second.

She doesn't understand that there is nothing for someone like me in England, a girl with no prospects for a good marriage. Papa had agreed to let me come, partly to be rid of me and partly to let me find my own way. This New world would be a test for me, one I was determined to pass.

John brings in my trunk and Alexandra helps me store it under a bed that has been constructed for me where the children sleep. Once I am settled in, the children head outside to play and I help their mother begin dinner. I have never been allowed to cook anything with my own hands before and I find this prospect exciting, though it is harder than I imagined it to be.

Alexandra is an amazingly good sport about my lack of knowledge and helps me peel back the husk on the corn, shows me how to set it in a bowl to soak until it is ready to be cooked, and walks me through the process of preparing it. She is very good at making me do all this myself while giving instruction rather than doing it for me. I am grateful for this because I so want to learn.

As evening rolls in we are joined by one of John's friends, Jack Winthrop, who is quite kind to me. Even when he learns that I am deaf and cannot speak, he seems unperturbed. Between Alexandra and I he manages to grasp a few simple signs before dinner is ready. If the entire New World is this understanding, I believe I will like it here indeed.

We are just about to eat when I smell the individuals approaching the cabin. It is odd, not because they smell badly, but because they smell like the forest itself. I think for a moment, rather childishly, that perhaps the forest is moving closer to the cabin. I imagine myself in a living version of _Macbeth_, At the scene where crone's prophecy is about to be fulfilled. It is soon after I have this thought that John and Jack hear something outside.

Both jump to their feet as though someone has lit a fire under them. I see them shushing the children and Alexandra as they take up their rifles. Alexandra sends the children and I to the very back of the cabin and picks up a small pistol from near the fireplace. I pick up Lucy and hold her tightly as John junior, little John as I have started thinking of him, moves in front of me protectively. The men open the door and disappear out into the darkness, we are left inside waiting.

I am watching Alexandra's face for instruction as to what I should do and watching her features go from wary and scared to happy. Lucy twists in my arms until I am forced to put her down and both she and little John run out the door. I turn baffled eyes up to the door as John sticks his head back in, grinning.

"Alexandra, set three more places." I see his lips say. Alexandra shakes her head, bemused instead of frightened and gestures for me to help her. I do so, but wish that someone would explain to me who has arrived and why they smell like the forest itself.

I receive my answer anyway, when that same smell wafts in from the open door. I turn curiously, with a bowl in my hands, and jump at what I see, the bowl tumbles from my fingers to land on the dirt floor. There are three native forest dwellers standing in the doorway.

Author's note:

(I think I should explain where this story came from for a minute. I recently watched the film, mostly to get my facts straight for 'Coming Back to you', and I recalled and interview I read with the actor that played Col. Munro. In the interview, they asked him what he thought of Jodhi may (Alice) and he was rather disparaging. They asked him what he thought of her as a person and he said something to the effect of 'She's much like she is in the movie, walking around with her mouth hanging open.' That struck me as really mean but it did give me the idea for this story.

I thought, as I watched the movie, 'wow, Alice barely has any lines and she does spend the movie looking shell-shocked.' Then I wondered how someone who was deaf would respond to a situation like that…thus the plot for Rabbit was born. I think a lot of this is going to be an at home story, I am going to pull some things from the movie into it but I already did a story where I retold the script. I want to try their story from a completely different standpoint.

I also don't know how often this story will be updated. I've hit a very tiny wall with 'Coming back to you', one I hope to have scaled by tomorrow. So I will write on this one when I'm feeling stuck on the other. Once 'Coming back to you' is done, I can give this one some more focus.

As always, feel free to read and review. Comments are always welcome!)


	2. Chapter 2-Rabbit

I see one man in particular first; he is all long dark limbs and straight black hair. I know that I am unabashedly staring at him. God forgive me but I cannot help myself. He is unlike any man I have ever seen and unlike any I will ever see after. Behind him are two other native men; an older man whom I assume must be the Tall Man's father, and a white man clothed in their garb. John is speaking to them, I know this because the older man turns to say something, but john is still outside so I have no idea what he is saying.

That is when the Tall Man turns his eyes in my direction and catches me staring. He regards me with a quiet, stoic expression and then nods his head curtly in my direction. I return the nod and retrieve the bowl I dropped in my surprise. Then I quickly turn back to the cook fire, before he can see the blush I know is spreading across my cheeks.

What has come over me, staring like that? I could not possibly have forgotten all my manners in just one day. I force myself to keep my eyes down as we set the table, afraid that I will begin to gawk at him again. Once the table is ready, Alexandra and I bring the corn I so painstakingly prepared to the table. I now feel self-conscious about the food I was rather proud of only moments before. What if it is over cooked, or under cooked. What if it is not salted enough, or salted too much? I shake myself then, reminding myself that these men showed up unannounced and will have to be happy with what they get.

Once we are seated, the children flock to the Tall Man. I watch as Lucy clings to his neck like a monkey and Little John climbs onto his knee. I cannot help but smile to myself at his gentleness with them. Then I once again force my eyes down, realizing that, again, I am staring. Alexandra moves around the cook fire behind us and I turn to see the words "Why is Uncas with you? I thought he would have settled down and started a family by now?" falling from her lips.

Uncas? Is that the Tall Man's name? How strange, that both myself and this stranger, should find ourselves in the same predicament. He without a wife and I without a husband. Again I have to shake myself, really Alice, what are you thinking?

Alexandra comes back by the table, patting the shoulder of the white man who is dressed as the natives. I glance at his face in time to see him mouth "We will spend the winter with the Delaware, find a woman for Uncas. She will declare 'you are the one' and bear him many children."

Uncas, looks amused by this but says nothing. Little John peeks up at Uncas face and asks "A boy like me?" The Tall Man ruffles Little Johns hair affectionately and smiles at him.

"Never!" his lips declare. "You're too strong; you'd make me old too quickly."

Alexandra makes her way by and scoops the boy off Uncas lap, tickling him as she says 'That's what he's doing to his mama.' before placing him back in his seat. Then she takes her own place at the table and the men begin to talk of things I don't understand. I pick up a piece of corn idly and bring it to my mouth, trying to be unobtrusive. It is, after all, what I learned to do at home. It issn't until Alexandra leans across the table to lay a hand on my arm that I realize they are all staring at me, intently.

"Alice," Alexandra signs at me. "Nathanial wants to know where you come from?"

I blink, surprised and smile at him as I sign 'London. My family hails from London'. I am not surprised that he doesn't understand my hand motions, very few people do. He narrows his eyes in confusion and turns his eyes to Alexandra.

"Can she not speak?" he mouths. Alexandra gives him a sad smile and shakes her head. I watch her translate my words to him.

"Why would a _Yangeese_ woman want to come live out here?" the man named Nathanial asks me. "Forgive my saying it miss, but you are rather young to be traveling to dangerous country on your own."

"Well, I am not altogether alone." I sign back at him. "I have John, Alexandra, and the children. Besides, there was very little for me back home."

"Then the Colonies are happy to have you!" Jack Winthrope mouths at me with a wink. I feel the familiar blush creeping into my cheeks, is Jack flirting with me?

"More like Jack Winthrope is happy to have her!" Nathanial jokes and slaps the man on the back, heartily. I blush harder and look down at my plate. No one else bothers with me as they all pick up their food and begin to eat. Halfway through the meal I feel eyes on me and glance up to see Uncas staring at me intently.

His eyes are onyx in the candlelight and I wonder what he is thinking as he looks at me. If I am being honest with myself, I would assume that he is wondering the same thing as his brother. 'Why is she out here alone, why did they send a deaf girl to dangerous territory on her own?' I give him a small smile and lower my eyes again, feeling nervous.

Once the dishes are cleared, Alexandra shoos the two children toward me and I pick up Lucy, who is sleepily rubbing her eyes.

"Off to bed you two, go with Alice." her lip's say. Lucy yawns and lays her head on my shoulder.

I feel the vibration of her voice against my chest as she answers her mother, who looks bemused at whatever she said. The men, who had turned to say goodnight mirror Alexandra's expression.

"Rabbit?" Uncas says with a raised eyebrow. "Why do they call her _Rabbit_?"

I see Alexandra laugh as she explains what occurred when we first arrived at the cabin earlier today, how the children were insistent that I see _their_ little garden. I let them lead me over to the tiny patch of lettuce and carrots and, much to the children's dismay, there was a rabbit happily munching on their produce. John had gone to grab his rifle but I had simply walked over and lifted the offending rabbit into my arms.

Needless to say, the children had been impressed. I had leaned down so they could pet it as Lucy explained how they always ran away from her when she tried to approach and she had never seen anyone handle a wild animal as I did. John and Alexandra had been equally impressed. I had carried the animal to the edge of the forest and watched it hop away. Alexandra finished relaying this story and to my amazement, the men looked impressed as well.

"It just let you pick it up?" Jack is asking me. All I can do was nod; I have no easy way to explain my method to him. I'm not sure I could convey it in sign language anyway.

"They began calling her _Rabbit_ after that." Alexandra explains.

The children say their goodnights and again, I feel his eyes on me. I look over my shoulder as the men are retiring outside for a smoke to see Uncas and Jack Winthrope studying me. I smile at them once more and then pull the blanket that hides the children's sleeping area forward, blocking out their faces. If I didn't know better, I would think they were _both_ interested in me.

Shaking my head, I focus on getting both children into bed. Once they are situated I crawl in next to them and lay with them until they go to sleep. It doesn't take long and once I am convinced they are down for the night, I rise and walk to the trunk that we hid under my bed. From it I pull a piece of parchment and a quill. Grabbing the candle from the stool I bring it over to my side and begin to pen a letter to my sister.

_Dearest Cora,_

_I have arrived in the New World no worse for wear. The journey was as smooth as can be expected. The Cameron's are kind to me and the children lovely and adorable. _

I stop to think for a second, wondering what else I can tell her about my first day in the New World.

_I met a strange man tonight, Cora. A native with long dark hair and eyes the color of night. He stared at me so intently that I think I forgot how to breathe for a moment._

I look at these words and shake my head at them; feeling exasperated, I crumble up the parchment and burn it in the candle flame. Such words would have my sister flying across the ocean in fear for my virtue. No, no I would keep such thoughts to myself. Let Uncas and Jack Winthrop stare and flirt, I was not in the market for a husband _here_ any more than I was back in England.


	3. Chapter 3-Tea with Lady Corwin

The next morning I made an error in judgment that served to remind me how much I still had to learn about life on the Frontier. The Cameron's rose early and Alexandra woke me to help her prepare breakfast. The meal is not where I made my error. Breakfast was simple enough; being just biscuits and some gravy that Alexandra showed me how to make from leftover bacon grease. No, my error happened after breakfast, when the children indicated to me that they were over warm.

"There's a stream a small ways down the path there." Little John mouthed to me, pointing.

The children had already picked up on a few small signs and Lucy gave me the signs for 'water' and 'hot'. It _was_ a very warm morning, the sun already beating down as I weeded and turned over dirt in the main garden. The children had been helping with this chore as much as most young children could be expected to. Now they were bored, hot, and irritable.

"Take us to the stream, Rabbit?" Little John mouthed at me, putting his hands in a placating motions under his chin. Lucy mimicked him. I laughed my silent laugh and pulled off the sun hat to fan myself. I truthfully did not see the harm in it. We had streams back in England that many children played in and this was my thought as I let them lead me down the incline to _their_ stream.

The children stripped naked as babies and ran into the water to splash each other while I sat on a rock and watched. I could see their happy laughing faces and I smiled at their joy, oh to be young again. I hoped they could keep that innocence forever.

I see their happy expressions slide away very suddenly and can't account for the change. They suddenly hustle out of the water to pull their clothes back on and I turn to see what it is that has them moving so quickly.

Alexandra is coming down the path and I can see that she is angry. She is shouting at the children, who are just pulling their clothing back on. I am baffled by this, is she angry because they are unclothed? It was my experience that most people did not take issue with this when it was young children playing privately in a stream. Alexandra then turns her angry eyes on me.

"You shouldn't have brought them down here!" I see her mouth admonishing me. "If you cannot respect the dangers of the wilderness then you should go back to England."

I am so startled by this that I cannot come up with a response to sign back to her. She sees my hurt and baffled expression and softens her features a bit.

"You should not come this far out from the cabin" Alexandra signs at me anxiously, gesturing for the children to come away from the stream with a rather harsh glare.

"I'm sorry," I sign back "they said they were over warm, I did not think it would be a problem."

"It isn't your fault, Alice," Alexandra signs back as she shoots her son a hard look. Little John has the decency to at least look guilty. "I'm sorry I was cross with you but what you must learn quickly is that this is dangerous country. The children know they are not allowed down here, not without their father or Jack."

I didn't understand and my face must have shown it. Alexandra pulls her lips into a tight line and draws the children in against her. The children will not look at me, probably fearful that I am angry at them for getting me into trouble.

"No one is safe. At any moment we could lose everything." Alexandra's lips explain. "My husband does not always take these dangers as seriously as he should, he and Jack have a romantic view of the frontier."

"There are those out there, Huron, Ottawa, even French soldiers who would murder us in our sleep." she continues, her hands flying quickly in her need to make me understand." We cannot give them such easy access by wandering into the more dangerous parts of the wilderness. Do you understand?"

I nod, feeling very much the sheltered child. I know, of course, that there is a war going on in this country but since I have seen neither French soldier nor Red Warrior, aside from Chingachgook and his sons, I allowed myself to forget the dangers. Alexandra appears to sigh and then smiles at me and lays a hand on my arm.

"Well, there was no harm done. Let's forget this happened all right? Come back to the house. You have your first tea with Lady Corwin this afternoon" Alexandra says and loops her arms through mine.

I wander back up the path with them but cannot shake my embarrassment at not questioning the children more about the stream. I did not think they would deceive me and so I had gone along a though I was another child. I sigh and lower my head; perhaps Cora was right to be worried about sending me here.

I don't have a great deal of time to focus on it however, for as soon as we are back at the cabin, Alexandra shoos off the children to play and has John bring in the wash tub. Soon enough I find myself being scrubbed, brushed, and tightened into a new dress so that I will look respectable again.

Part of the conditions for my coming here is that I am expected to take tea with some for the more affluent women who reside in Albany. My father and sister agreed to my desire to live rustically, but would not hear of me losing everything I had been taught in the process.

So, once or twice week, Alexandra will have to lace me into one of my nicer gowns, arrange my hair atop my head and secure my cap to it, and she, John, and the children will have to lose a day's work to take me into town for tea with 'The Ladies of Albany.'

I felt a great deal of guilt for this and would not have made them do this if I thought my father wouldn't keep tabs with the noble women. The tea fiasco was tedious for me from the moment I laid eyes on Lady Corwin. She was a short woman of about fifty year of age, portly from eating nothing but cakes and roast lamb, and had a critical eye that zeroed in on me in a matter of minutes. I curtsied to her as I had been taught to do and catch her brief smile of disdain before she rallies and comes forward to take my hand.

"Ah, young Alice Munro," her thin lips mouth at me "welcome to Albany, how are you finding our fair town?"

I smile and sign that I find it charming but I can tell from her raised eyebrows that she doesn't understand me. I try again, giving her a curt nod to indicate I find the town agreeable and she seems satisfied with this. She leads me to a table set out of doors, where two other women are waiting for us. A mother and a young woman, I assume to be her daughter. She is roughly my age, red haired and looking as bored as I know I will soon feel.

Introductions are made but when it is revealed that I am deaf I can see the other two women's eyes glazing over. In a mere two minutes I have gone from welcomed guest to the 'presence that must be endured.'

"Poor wee lamb," Lady Corwin says to the other women, not realizing I can read her lips. "Deaf since birth according to her father, no hope for a decent marriage either. I think he hopes we can con some man into taking her off his hands."

"Hmph, not likely!" the other woman comments, as she put her napkin in her lap. "If I can't find a suitable man for Eugenie here, whose ears work perfectly I might add… what makes him think we can find someone for her?"

I see Eugenie try to hide her giggle behind her hand and feel my face flame in anger. Really, if all they're going to do is ridicule me then what is the purpose of my being here? It goes exactly how I expected it to. I can't not join in on any of their discussions nor, truth be told, do I want to. I play the part of the well-bred daughter, pour tea for them and pass around the tray of little cakes, but my mind wanders elsewhere.

I look out across the sprawling lawn to the shade of the forest beyond and imagine _him_ waiting out there. I imagined him standing at the tree line and beckoning me to leave them and join him. I imagined standing from my chair and racing to take his outstretched hand, laughing silently as we disappear into the forest and never return. It's a harmless enough fantasy to indulge in because it will never happen.

In fact, I do not expect to see the handsome Red Man again. He and his family were en route to somewhere called 'Can-tuck-kee'. Besides, why would he want me anyway? I'm merely a thin, pale, wisp of a girl that is little more than damaged goods. No, I'm certain that there is an equally dark skinned girl waiting for him patiently and I fervently hope he will be happy with her.

"Miss Munro!" Lady Corwin taps my arm harshly and I see my name being snapped from her moving lips.

The ladies are staring at me as though I have done something utterly ridiculous. At first I can't account for their expressions but when I follow the line of their gaze I see that I have tipped my tea into my lap, being so lost in my daydream, and it has stained my good skirt visibly. I scramble from my seat as though appalled with myself and gesture that I must go clean up.

Hurrying back toward the house, I instead slip out the front door and lean against it to laugh to myself. Well, I wanted an excuse to leave and it looks like I found one. I didn't think they would really miss me. I step off into the dirt path and was prepare to make my way back toward the Market when I stop in the path. Standing just ahead of me and, staring at me quietly, was the Red Man from the night before.

Author's Note:

I didn't expect them to meet up again this soon…I also didn't expect my toddler to sleep long enough for me to get both stories updated. XD I can't promise I'll get to both everyday guys but thank you for reading and thank you for all the comments I've been getting on this. It was just something I came up with the last time I watched the film, I didn't expect nearly the amount of attention it's getting. Hope fully I can keep you all interested as it goes on.

I also have no idea yet how the courting process is going to go with our two love interests. This story changes a little every time I write it. Originally I was going to kill off the Cameron's like in the movie and have her travel around with Uncas and company for an undisclosed amount of time but that doesn't look like it going to happen.

Now Jack Winthrop had wormed his way in and I….don't know yet how I'm going to handle this. Usually things come to me throughout the day so maybe I can come up with something while the guppy and I walk to the park. Thanks for reading, you guys are Awesome!)


	4. Chapter 4-Fox and Rabbit

I believe he is as startled to see me as I am to see him, his eyebrows raise in the faintest hint of surprise before he schools his expression back to its natural stoic state. It is interesting to me to see Uncas in the light of day rather than dim candle light, for I can now see that his skin is not red at all but more a deep mahogany. Unlike the other Native I saw the day before, he is clothed and for that I am grateful. He wears a tunic top that is a wonderful shade of green and soft leather leggings that hug his long legs pleasingly.

I am once again overcome with forgetfulness in regards to my manners, I stare unabashedly. He does not seem uncomfortable with my lack of etiquette as he too is staring at me. It takes me a moment to recognize that he shouldn't be here at all, weren't he and his family headed north? I straighten my shoulder and I nod to him, which is my only way of 'saying' hello to those who don't know sign language. He returns the nod and makes his way toward me.

"What are you doing out here by yourself?" I see his lips asking me. I sign tea at him by making my right hand into a half closed fist and resting it on my left to indicate a cup. I bring the cup hand to my lips and I see realization dawn on his face.

"Isn't tea inside?" he gestures with his head toward the door. His face is rather teasing so I imagine his tone must be as well. I roll my eyes, smirk, and make a running gesture with two of my fingers on my palm to indicate 'escape'. Uncas laughs at this and I smile, imagining his laugh to be a deep baritone, someone with eyes as warm as his must have a warm laugh to go with them.

"Was it that bad?" he asked, still chuckling and I grin before folding my hands by my face and pretending to sleep. I see him laughing again and join him, covering my mouth as though sound would actually come out. We have another moment of locked eyes before he gestures with his head toward the path.

"Well, if escape is what you intended them you probably want to get away from the house too. Come, walk with me?" Uncas requests. I look at the sky, the placement of the sun, and realize I still have time before I need to meet the Cameron's again. As I have no intention of joining those awful women for more 'Alice ridicule', a walk with Uncas feels agreeable.

I step up next to him and we walk side by side toward the bustling town square. He does not offer me his arm and I find that I don't expect him to, as I would with any British gentleman. I am not even offended by the lack of offer, have the colonies changed me so much in just two days?

"So what was so harrowing about afternoon tea, aside from boredom, that is?" he mouths at me with that amused smile. I sign the story to him without thinking until he chuckles and places his hands on mine to still them. I look up at him, first in surprise, and then feel my cheeks flame in embarrassment. I have forgotten, for a moment, that he will not be able to recognize my hand gestures.

"I think, before you try answering that question, that I need to learn what your hands are saying." his lips say with an amused grin. I lower my hands from his, still embarrassed but I nod.

He thinks for a moment and then begins to ask me the signs for easy conversation. That is how we spend the next hour as we stroll through the market place. He asks me how to say 'Please' and 'Thank you'. I show him the gesture for commands like 'wait' and 'stop'. He is a study and soon enough I have him signing some simple phrases.

"How do you sign names?" he asks me suddenly, stopping in the path to face me. I blink at him, surprised. I did not expect this particular question. It is not an easy one to sign an answer to either, as most deaf people are given a sign for their name by other deaf individuals. As I have never known any, Cora gave me my sign name.

I point at myself first and then make my index and thumb into the shape of a 'C'. I bring the hand in this position up to my face until my index finger rests against my eyebrow and my thumb rests under my eye. I tap the hand twice against my face in the sign for 'moon' before I bend my hand and bring it up to the top of my head. I drag it down to indicate 'Long hair'. After I finish this I point to myself again.

"That's your name?" Uncas asks. I smile and nod.

"All that means 'Alice'?" he continues, looking skeptical. I laugh and shake my head. I spell my name with my hands and he laughs with me, reaching out to still my fingers again.

"All right, all right, the other one is easier." he comments, smiling. He repeats the sign for 'Moon hair' and I nod, clapping my hands to show he did it right. He returns the smile and then thinks for a moment before asking "What would my name be?"

I start at the question because I have no easy answer for him. I could spell it, I suppose, but that process is long and tedious, especially if the person's name is long. I think for a moment and then have an idea. I point at him, sign 'Name' and shrug my shoulders. I hope he understands that I am asking for his names 'meaning'. At first he doesn't understand.

"You know my name." I see his lips say, face bemused. I shake my head and try again. I point at myself and sign 'Moon Hair' and then point to him and shrug. Finally he seems to understand.

"What does my name mean?" he asks and I nod, relieved. I was running out of ways to ask.

"Fox." he mouths, giving me a soft smile.

At this word I grin and bring together my thumb and index finger, fanning out the other three fingers behind them. Then I bring this sign to my nose and twist my hand twice. I point at him when I am done. He seems amused by this and repeats it before giving me what I can only describe as a tender smile. He reaches out to tuck a stray hair behind my ear.

"And what is the sign for Rabbit?" Uncas mouths at me, I know he must be speaking quietly because his lips move barely at all.

I return his gentle smile and hold up both my hands. On both hands I fold all but the index and middle finger. Then I cross my hands before me until the backs of my hands are touching and slowly twitch both fingers downward. I do this twice. He smiles and repeats the motion.

"All right then, my sign for you will be that and yours for me will be 'Fox'. Are we agreed?" he asks with a grin. I smile back and nod, indicating that I find this agreeable.

He is staring at me so tenderly that I begin to wonder if he will kiss me. I wonder what I will do if he kisses me. I never have the chance to find out, because as soon as he leans even minutely forward there is a faint vibration in the earth under our feet. I glance down curiously and then look over his shoulder to see people jumping out of the way as something large comes barreling down the path, kicking up dirt as it heads straight for us.

Uncas pushes me behind him in alarm and I see that it is a spooked horse that has gotten away from its handler. Far down the path, I can see a man racing after the fleeing animal in a panic. I know Uncas has meant to protect me from the stampeding horse but there is really no need. I step around him and step directly into its path. I feel him reach for my arm but I shake him off and sign 'Trust me' at him before turning back to the animal.

I bring a hand up to my face, holding it a few inches from my mouth and blow out air through my fingers in a whistle. I do this until I know the pressure is right and know that I have achieved the correct sound because the horse stops, rears up, and idles nervously back and forth. Once I have its attention I remove the hand and click my tongue soothingly.

I see the beast look at me; see the frightened panic in its dark eyes. I have to give it a different focus, make it forget what scared it in the first place. Its nostrils flare as it puffs nervously and I see the handler trying to approach from the left with a bit and lead in his hands. I throw out a hand to stop him and behind me, Uncas must have shouted for him to stop. This irritates the horse's already wracked nerves and it begins to stomp the ground nervously.

I whistle at it again until its eyes are on me, again I click my tongue, and when I have its attention I hold out my hand. We have quite the crowd now, every townsperson within earshot has gathered to watch what will happen. The horse looks at me, shakes its head once and then takes one hesitant step toward me.

I do not move, I do not approach; I will let it come to me. I know that it will if I am patient. I click my tongue again, once, and the horse's steps become surer. Suddenly its soft nose is nuzzling my palm and I smile as it lowers its head to sniff my pockets, probably hoping I have a bit of sugar.

Had I know I would be escaping tea today, I would have pilfered a few from Lady Corwin's sugar jar, but as it happens I cannot predict the future. I feel something being put into my hand, it is rounded and hard. I bring it up and find that Uncas has given me a small bit of carrot. I feel his hands on my shoulders as I hold the carrot out to the horse on the flat of my palm and giggle as its soft lips close over the carrot.

What a sight we must look, standing in a crowd with a Native man holding a white girl by the shoulders while she tames a runaway horse. I fear there will be no plausible lie I can give Lady Corwin for my whereabouts after this. Uncas gestures to the handler who comes over slowly with the bit and lead. The horse offers no resistance as he slides the bit over its head and he leads it away.

I take that moment to glance up at the crowd and see many of them pointing at us and talking. Uncas still has his hands on my shoulders and is standing very close behind me. I can feel his breath on the back of my head. As I realize this I notice a group of three men watching me ,who do not share the same expression as those in the crowd.

The gathered town's people mostly looked shocked or impressed but these men stare at me as though I am a piece of met for the taking. I do not like the look in their eyes as they point at us and talk silently to one another. I have seen that look on one other man's face and I know what it means.

I feel Uncas stiffen behind me and know he has followed my line of sight. The men give me one more suggestive stare and I glare at them as they walk away toward the tavern. When I turn to look at Uncas his face is hard, angry, he didn't like how they looked at us either.

"Best not to wander alone anymore, Rabbit." I see him mouth at me. I give a nod though he doesn't see it.

"Yes, " I sign at him "No more wandering alone."

Authors note:

(Hey look, I introduced some characters to cause tension XD. Another thing I didn't intend until I started writing. This story seems to change a little with every chapter I write. If anyone interested those were actual signs for 'Fox', 'Rabbit' and 'Moon hair'.

I don't know if I'll be able to update 'coming back to you' today. If I do, it'll be tonight. My kid only slept an hour today so I only had time for one story. I hope you enjoy this little chunk though. )


	5. Chapter 5-The Courtship Dance

Uncas escorts me to where I was supposed to meet with the Cameron's, but not before I have him escort me back to Lady Corwin's so I can make my apologies for vanishing on her. I was right when I thought they wouldn't miss me, they barely notice that I had left at all. I tell Lady Corwin, as best I can, that I made a trip to the market for some special salt to dry out my skirt. Then I make up a story about the encounter with the horse, feigning feminine fright about the whole encounter. She understands and is surprisingly sympathetic. I almost feel guilty for lying to her as Uncas walks me back toward the port.

He is wary as we walk; his eyes are everywhere at once as we stroll next to one another. He is looking for those three men, making sure they are not following behind. I understand and appreciate his caution; I have dealt with their ilk before. The first man to look at me as they did was a priest at our church.

I had been thirteen and just starting to pass from girlhood into womanhood. The Priest caught me alone after confession and tried to touch me inappropriately. I believe he thought a deaf girl wouldn't be able to tell on him, and even if I did, no one would believe me. I escaped his advances and told Cora immediately. Unlike myself, Cora could speak and she sang like the proverbial bird. My father had him removed from our church and I never saw him again.

A few young men at dances had gotten grabby or shot me a heat filled glance from across the room but I learned how to stay close to my father or sister and to never find myself alone with such men. Here I have no father or sister to hide behind; I would have to look after myself.

"They are not there." I sign at him. Uncas frowns and turns his eyes back ahead but says nothing to me with either hands or lips.

We see the Cameron's ahead of us, waiting by their wagon. Alexandra turns her head when Little John jumps past her, calling out Uncas name. The children run to us happily; Lucy to me with her arms held out and Little John to Uncas, who swings him up onto one shoulder. John is smiling as he comes forward to say something to Uncas. I do not see what words his lips form because my eyes are on Alexandra's face.

She appears worried to see me in Uncas company, as well as surprised. I do not understand this apprehension and she covers it quickly with a smile as Uncas approaches, handing her the giggling boy from his shoulder. I see her ask how we ran into each other and he explains about finding me outside Lady Corwin's house, the incident with the runaway horse, and about the men who had looked at me like I was a common whore. John's face clouds over with anger as I see him scoff and he lifts Lucy back into the wagon.

"Those three have been nothing but trouble for Albany; best steer clear of them, Alice." He warns me. I nod my agreement but sign nothing back. Uncas helps me into the back of the wagon and lets his fingers linger on mine for a long moment.

"Goodbye, Rabbit." he signs to me, giving me a soft smile.

"Goodbye, Fox." I sign back, my heart fluttering like a bird in my chest.

John snaps the reigns and we pull away, Uncas holds my fingers until distance separates our hands, and I watch his form until he disappears from sight. That is the beginning of my courtship by to very different men. I think that Alexandra thought that the two of us showing up together that day was a coincidence and tried to push it from her thoughts. That next week would change her mind.

Uncas found an excuse to show up at the Cameron's farm on and off over the next week. The first day he showed up with a pair of Beavers and skinned them for Alexandra while I dug in the garden and the children played nearby. He would point at something and ask me for the sign for it, I would give it and he would repeat it. Even the children joined this game and by the end of the game they were carrying on short, private conversations.

The following day, Uncas and his family showed up to help John fix his barn. He helped me gather eggs from the henhouse, which I realize immediately was just a ruse to spend some time alone with me. I called him out on it teasingly because gathering eggs is an embarrassingly easy task.

"Not for me," he signs "I tend to get pecked."

I laugh and shake my head as I reach under a sleepy chicken and grasp an egg. The chicken opens one eye to look at me and immediately goes back to sleep.

"See," he signs and points "I would end up bleeding."

Again I shake my head and laugh. He has an easy presence and I think he is comfortable with my silence. I realize quickly that he is ill at ease with a lot of spoken conversation and because I cannot speak, he has little need to converse unless he chooses. He has picked up on a lot of my signs in just two days and is now signing more than talking.

We exit the henhouse and he is forced to go back and help with the barn, though I see he is loath to go. I smile and shoo him back toward the other men before I carry the egg basket to the house and hand it to Alexandra who looks troubled. She says nothing to me about Uncas suddenly attention but I think it is part of the reason that Jack Winthrop begins coming to dinner several times that same week.

Alexandra noted Jack's interest in me that first night and I think she felt as though she should give me options considering Uncas sudden interest. I have no mother figure in the New World and she decided she would have to fill that role. She does not dislike Uncas, not at all, but I think she worries what kind of life he can offer me if things progress further. So, she brings Jack Winthrop into my life.

I find Jack to be kind and quite funny but he is also revolutionary hearted. At dinner he speaks of nothing more than the British and this 'Colonial Militia' they want to form. He mostly speaks to John at dinner and he makes no attempt to learn any more of my signs. He will look at me when he speaks so I can read his lips but Alexandra still has to translate the majority of what I say back.

"There is a dance in town tomorrow night," his lips say to me one night near the end of the week "You all should come."

"How lovely," Alexandra exclaims before I have a chance to answer him. "We've had nothing but work for so long, it would be nice to have a bit of fun for once."

"Wonderful!" Jack declares and smiles at me. I smile back weakly but inwardly I groan.

I have been forced to attend many a dance back in England and they are generally uncomfortable affairs. The preparation time is tedious, being laced into a corset is painful, and trying not to show too much enjoyment so as to not incur gossip is exasperating. I am a competent dancer assuming I can feel the vibration of the music but I have no idea how these dances work in the Colonies.

I am still thinking on this the next day as I hang laundry and Uncas sits nearby whittling new arrow shafts while his father and brother cut new beams to replacing some rotting ones in the barn. I am frowning to myself as I think of this dance and I feel guilty about my lack of enthusiasm. Alexandra and the children are so excited I feel I _must_ go. I can hardly stay at the cabin alone.

"Fox," I sign at Uncas once I get his attention "Are you attending this dance tonight?"

"I wasn't planning on it. Not much for dancing." he signs back. "Why?"

"Jack invited us." I sign back. "I don't know anything about how such gatherings are dealt with here."

"It's just a dance, Rabbit." Uncas signs back, amused at my concern. The next part he mouths because he doesn't know all the signs yet. "There's food, dancing, and sometimes the white men get drunk and pass out but otherwise it's pretty harmless."

I have to smile at his description. I lean back against the post and sigh, I suppose it doesn't sound as uncomfortable as the balls I have been forced to attend back home. Uncas and I speak no more on the subject and I find, that night, that it really isn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be.

Colony dances are less formal for one thing, no one has to pile their hair atop their head or lace themselves in until they can't breathe. The women laugh loudly and drink as heartily as the men, with no one thinking badly of them for it. I begin to smile soon after we arrive, feeling that maybe this could be more enjoyable than I imagined.

The music is loud enough that I can feel the vibration through the ground, and soon enough I am swung out for a dance with Jack Winthrop. Another interesting aspect of this New World gathering is that British dances have been incorporated into their mix of Irish, Scottish, and sometimes French dances. The only difference is that they are faster and not nearly so formal. I do enjoy dancing, I always have; I have just never been able to enjoy the freedom of a partner I can touch.

I am engaging in one such dance when I am swung out to another man. My hands are caught and I am spun around to face my new partner. I find myself staring up into the face of Uncas face and I give a gasp of surprise. He gives me a small smile.

"I thought you did not dance?" I quickly sign before he pulls me in.

"No, I said I did not go out _much_ for dances." He spins me out and pulls me back, I grin at him. "I'm making an exception."

We whirl with the group until I am shot out to a new partner. It goes on like this until I am retuned to Jack Winthrop who spins me dizzily around. Soon enough the beat picks up and we move faster. I am spun once again into Uncas' arms and our gazes lock. For the briefest of moments the world slows down and he is all I can see. We are the only ones on the dance floor as we spin and whirl before he has to hand me out to the next male.

I leave his arms grudgingly and look into the face of my new partner. I balk as I see it is one of the men from earlier. He smiles smugly down into my surprised face and pulls me in roughly. I struggle to pull away as I am tossed about by him. He stinks of tobacco and alcohol as he bumbles me through the dance steps before whirling me to the next man, another of that same group.

This man grabs at my behind with searching fingers, wearing the same licentious smile. I try to rip from him and all but fall into the final man who catches me by one wrist and hauls me in so I am pressed against his front.

"Fancy a romp, darling?" I see his lips say to me. I shake my head and try to pull away.

"Aw c'mon, horse girl" he says and reaches to squeeze my backside harshly. "You got time for the savage then you go time for me."

I do something I have never done in my life, I pull back my head and I spit into his drunken, smirking face. He releases my behind and backhands me sharply across the face. Pain explodes across my cheek and I stumble. Several things happen at once. The first is that I fall sideways and am caught up in long dark arms. The second is that Jack Winthrop is suddenly in front of me with Nathanial on his left and John Cameron on his right.

I know there must be a lot of shouting. I glance up at Uncas, whose face is murderous, then to Jack who is being held back by Nathanial as he tries to attack the man that struck me. I see the drunken man laughing before he is hauled away by one of the other men. I still against Uncas, shocked, with one hand held to my stinging cheek. He stares after the man who had hit me with dark eyes before turning his face down to me and pulling the hand from my cheek.

"Let me see?" his lips say as he gently feels the tender flesh with his long fingers.

There is suddenly a crowd around us as everyone tries to see if I am hurt. Jack Winthrop is next to us again, looking worriedly into my face and Nathanial watches all of us quietly. I brush of all their hands away and straighten, nodding that I am not hurt. Alexandra makes her way through the crowd to my side and shoos most of the gawkers away. She says quietly to John that we should leave and he hurries out to get the carriage. I am led to a chair and made to sit while Uncas and Jack Winthrop essentially stand guard over me.

"I am sorry for this, Alice," Jack apologizes as though it were somehow his fault.

I shake my head and try to smile, though I am sure it does not reach my eyes. I feel rattled by what has happened and I do not understand it. Why would my spending time with Uncas make them think they could treat me so?

"They're bastards, the lot of them. If their fathers were not so powerful they would have been jailed long ago." Jack continues to rant as though he can hear my thoughts.

Nathaniel finally joins us, telling his brother that he saw the three men heading toward the tavern, probably to get even more drunk. He glances down at me with worried eyes.

"Are you all right, miss?" I see his lips ask. I nod though I do not feel alright. I am startled, confused, and angry at being handled so.

I see Nathanial and Uncas share a look, Uncas nods and turns back to me.

"I am to ride back with you, just in case there is more trouble. My Father and Brother will be behind on foot." he signs at me brokenly.

"Is that necessary?" I sign back. Uncas looks back toward where the men left and his face his tight.

"Possibly. They have taken notice of you Rabbit, and that is not a good thing." he mouths at me

He doesn't have time to elaborate. Alexandra see's john and retrieves me. I am led quickly to the wagon. The children and I pile into the back. After we are settled, Uncas crawls in with us, holding a rifle and searching the surrounding area for danger. Lucy climbs into my lap and Little John puts himself protectively at my side.

"Don't worry, Rabbit." Lucy signs at me. "Uncas will protect us."

I smile at the girl and look at the back of Uncas dark head. I hug the little girl against me and think to myself. 'Yes, Lucy. I believe he will.'

Authors note:

(well, there are out trouble makers for the story ladies and gentleman. As you can see, I seem to be forgoing Magua in this story. I thought about bringing him in later but I don't know if I want to deal with him for this story.

Also I don't think it's any secret that Alice likes Uncas better than jack. For one, I have no interest in writing a story where she chooses someone else, that's no fun. Second, I'm afraid I'd lose most of the fan base in the first chapter if I _wanted_ to write that kind of story. XD.

Again, sorry for the lack of update on 'Coming back to you', I've hit a small wall at the moment. I need to write a scene in which Gray and Lyric come to some sort of understanding about where each of them stands and I'm still trying to work that scene out. Maybe by tomorrow I'll have an update for _that_ story. Thanks for reading!)


	6. Chapter 6-Uncas' Choice

As I stare out into the forest, where I know my father and brother are concealed by both darkness and trees, I begin to appreciate the danger I've just put Rabbit in. Nathanial tried to warn me earlier today about attending that ridiculous _Yangees_ dance; now I wish I had listened to him. I went because I _wanted _to see her and she implied she _wanted_ me there. I didn't see the harm in it until an hour ago.

I saw her get swung out to Drake before I could do anything about it. The crowd was so thick with townspeople that, by the time I was halfway through the first throng of people, she had been swung out to Andrew. Finally, she had ended up with William and that was when everything went to hell.

I didn't quite see what Alice did to provoke him, I saw her stiffen, and I saw him make a face, but that was about it. It doesn't take much to set their lot off, even under the best of circumstances, but I did see him slap her. I was ready to kill him then and I probably would have if Alice hadn't stumbled into me and Nathanial and Jack hadn't gotten in front of us. William probably doesn't realize they saved his life tonight.

I glance over at Rabbit out of the corner of my eye and see she is curled up in blanket with Lucy, Alexandra must have handed it back to them. She looks hurt and bewildered; I can't blame her for that. No one expects to go to a dance and be backhanded be a stranger, especially by one of their own kind. I don't think she understands how bad this situation could get. Her eyes meet mine and she smiles a little, I can't return it, not right now. I turn my eyes back to the road.

Once the wagon is safely back at the Cameron's homestead and we are reasonably sure none of those idiots followed, my Father and Brother emerge from the trees. Alice is lifting the children down from the Wagon as Nathanial approaches John, Alexandra, and I.

"No one followed." my father confirms for the Cameron's. Alexandra nods and thanks him. Nathanial turns to John with serious eyes.

"You realize that she can't go into town anymore, not alone anyway." my brother reminds him, John nods and bites the inside of his cheek.

"One of them always has to ruin it." John mumbles. "You'd think their fathers would keep a better leash on them?"

Drake, Andrew, and William are not a lot to be trifled with. When they drink, and they did so often, they go looking for someone to play with. Most men with money frequent the shadier parts of town, and find their pleasure with a prostitute. Not those three. No, they've beaten and raped several of the poorer girls in town and laughed about it when their fathers found ways to bribe the judges into letting them off. After all, who really cared about a random Huron girl or an immigrant from Ireland? They are poor, they do not matter.

"Should we send her home to England?" Alexandra asks anxiously. "If they've taken notice of her, we may not have a choice. We can't hold her prisoner on the farm.

I look over at Alice and realize that I truly do not want her to go. I have met very few white women in my life that looked on me with kindness let alone would take the time to speak with me. I also realize that I can't, in good conscious, ask her to stay with this kind of danger looming over her.

"I don't know that we need send her home yet," John replies, thinking out loud "though those teas with Lady Corwin might have to stop. Putting her in William's home, even with his mother's presence to deter him, does not sit well with me."

I had forgotten that William was Lady Corwin's son. This just seemed to get worse and worse. Alexandra might be right; they might have to send her away after all. I notice that Alice is staring at us intently and it dawns on me that we have been talking about her as if she isn't even here. I've spent a majority of the week with her, and in that time, she's told me enough about her home to make me remember she hates it when people do this. She has also been reading our lips as we speak and she looks livid. She stomps over and begins to gesture at me rapidly with her fingers.

"Why..send..home, why…not..talking..me?" I read brokenly. I'm getting better at reading her signs but I'm slow at it. In this case, I know enough to put together what she is asking.

"Rabbit, it's not safe." I say to her. Alice narrows her eyes and then makes her hand into a duck's bill and touches the fingers above her eye brow. She brings the hand down and makes a fist with only her thumb and pinkie sticking out at the sides. She is asking me why.

Spirits, how do I explain this in a way that won't frighten her? I don't want to lie to her about what could happen nor do I want to make her terrified to go into town again. Alexandra saves me from having to say anything by walking over and laying a hand on Alice's arm.

She signs quickly to the girl and I can't follow any of it. Alice signs back angrily and Alexandra's face is a mixture of concerned determination. Whatever she signs to Alice makes her blanch for only a moment before she turns to the rest of us and signs:

"Not…hiding. I make…choice..me. No one else! I stay!"

Then she turns on her heel, takes the children by the hand, stomping off toward the house like a barely contained ball of fury. I start to go after her but Alexandra grabs my arm to stop me.

"Leave her be, she's had a rough night." she tells me firmly. I see the strangest expression on her face as she releases my arm to fold hers over her chest. She looks up at me like an angry mother.

"You had some part in that rough night!" she tells me harshly

"Alexandra!" John exclaims, shocked. His wife ignores him.

"You know how the rich folk feel about the natives mingling with unmarried young women." Alexandra continues. "Yet you show up and you dance with her? What did you think would happen?"

"She's not wrong on that one, Uncas." Nathanial points out.

I don't know what to say to this. It's true that I threw caution to the wind to see her and I have a hard time regretting that part of my decision. Alexandra must see the war of emotions playing out over my face and hers softens a bit. She sighs and lowers her arms, suddenly looking tired.

"Look, I can see that you have feelings for her," Alexandra says to me "but you have to consider the ramifications of acting on them. She's a rich, pampered girl from London and the best you can offer her is a nomadic life moving from tribe to tribe. Scenes like tonight will become commonplace."

"Why is everyone acting like we're getting married? We danced!" I say defensively. "Sometimes we _talk_; I've made no offers of _any_ kind."

"We're not blind, Uncas," John puts in sadly "and you've not been hanging around the farm all week for the pleasure of _our_ company."

"Just consider what striking up a relationship could mean for the both of you," Alexandra asks me "before you take this any farther? You don't want to be responsible for her getting hurt."

Then she walks away toward the house and I am left alone with her words hanging in the air between us. I have to admit to myself that Alexandra isn't wrong about any of it. A union between us would not be recognized by any _Yangees_ church and Alice would always be an outsider in any tribe I took her too. The truth is that I hadn't thought about any of that because I was simply enjoying her company.

She's unlike any girl I've ever met and a large part of that is that she doesn't demand idle conversation from me. We both exist in silence in our own way, Alice because she is deaf and I because I'm more comfortable that way. It is true that I have delayed our trip to 'Can-tuck-kee' in order to get to know her, now I need to decide if it's better for me to leave.

"Don't take her words too harshly, son." John says as he walks over and lays a hand on my shoulder. "Alexandra feels responsible for Alice well-being; she does not mean to be unkind."

"I know." I answer quietly. "I'm sorry if I caused trouble for you."

"Oh, we'll be fine. I doubt those idiots will come all the way out here just to get to Alice. Besides, I've got a rifle that can persuade them to leave easily enough." John's words are meant to be reassuring but they aren't. We say good night to him and melt back into the forest before Nathanial and my Father try to broach the subject of Alice again.

"_You should put her out of your mind now."_ My father says to me in Mohegan. "_Alexandra spoke truth. Jack Winthrope can offer her a more comfortable life than you."_

_ "You too, Father?"_ I try for a joking tone and fail. He gives me a hard look.

"_I warned you about spending time with her and you're brother warned you about the dance. Let us leave here before we cause her more grief?" _Father says firmly.

I know I should agree with him. I should nod and do what they say, as I always have. I find that, for the first time in my life, I want to be selfish. I can't bring myself to make the decision I know would be easy. I have made the easy decisions for too long. I look at my family and tell them that if they must go to 'Can-tuck-kee', then they must go without me. I see the shock on their faces, they would never have expected it of me, but I hold firm.

I am a fox that is falling in love with a rabbit. We might have no future, the dogs might hunt us down, but I can't turn my back on something that could also be the best thing that's ever been mine. I am staying, consequences be damned!

Authors note:

(Ok, I finally got some writing down. I wanted to get one of the stories updated this weekend but I didn't have to the time. Here's an Uncas POV chapter for you, just so we kind of know what going on in his head. There will probably be a few more of these later, as I need them.

I think everyone's figured out that Drake, Andrew, and William are bad news. How bad remains to be seen. I have a pretty good idea what I want to do with that story arc but it could change by the time I get there.

Well, thanks for reading and I will hopefully have another chapter of this tomorrow)


	7. Chapter 7-Throwing down the Gauntlet

Several things happened over the next few weeks that would set later events in motion. The first was that Alexandra wrote to my father and told him of my run in with the three town 'Hooligans,' as she called them. She told me she was going to do this so I cannot say she did it behind my back. I know Alexandra asked my father for permission to stop sending me to tea with Lady Corwin, as it was her son William, who had slapped me. I cannot say I minded the idea of those teas ending at all; having an excuse to avoid the wretched event would have been a blessing. Alas, though, no such permission was granted.

The day my father's letter arrived, Alexandra and I read it together. The long and short of it was that I was expected to continue the high society tea and that he was appalled to hear that I had, one, spit in the face of an aristocrats son and two, that I had lowered myself to dance with a savage. My father's consensus was that the incident was entirely _my_ fault and that since I had made my bed, I would have to lay in it.

"The nerve of the man!" Alexandra raged as she shoved the letter into john's face. "He insinuates that she _earned_ what happened at the dance!

"I know he sounds cross," I sign at Alexandra "but I can assure you that it's all for show. The reality is that he doesn't care. If he did, I would already be on a ship back to England"

"That is not the point!" Alexandra mouths back. "He's your father; he should be writing to that fancy lady and demanding she force that little bastard of hers to apologize."

"Calm yourself, my dear." John mouths at his wife lifting a hand up to stall her rage. His face does not look happy and he crumples up the letter in his fist before throwing it into the fire. "If he will not defend her then we will."

John grins at me over his wife's head and I smile back. In the few weeks I have been here he is already more of a father to me than my own. I try to show with my eyes that I appreciate these words. Alexandra is still not pleased about the letter but inevitably lets it go. A seperate letter from my sister arrives a few days later and is much kinder, showing respect for my boldness rather than anger. When I show this to Alexandra she seems a bit more at ease, though still concerned that they do not wish to send for me. I cannot explain to her that my sister understands my need for independence and will not force me home unless she has to. My father is simply happy to be rid of me.

The next event to occur was that word got around about my taming the horse in the town square. As I hadn't been in town for over a week after the dance debacle, I was unaware that I was the subject of discussion. So, one day as I was weeding the Cameron's little garden and keeping an eye on the children, Jack Winthrope came up the path with his carriage.

I would not have known anyone approached if Little John hadn't taken that moment to wave. I turn to look over my shoulder, tilting up the rim of the sun hat to see more clearly. The children run to Jack and I give him a smile as he waves at me. Brushing my hands on my skirt to remove the dirt, I crawl to my feet and walk over to see what has brought on this visit so early in the day.

Jack shows up most nights for super and Alexandra watches us hopefully when we attempt to converse. I know she is hoping that Jack will make me an offer of marriage but what she doesn't realize is that even if he does make me an offer, I will not accept it. Jack is a kind man but his first and only love is politics and I have no intention of playing second fiddle in my own marriage. He knows only a handful of my signs and mimics the new ones distractedly. No, I will not marry Jack Winthrope or any man at this point in my life.

"Hello Jack," I sign, smiling "are you looking for John? I believe he is in the pasture at the moment."

"I'm looking for you actually." he mouths back, not attempting to sign at all.

"Me?" my hands question. I refuse to give him an out on this. "Whatever for?"

"I don't know what you just said but I'm going to assume you asked me 'why'." His lips reply with a teasing grin. I return the smile tightly and nod, trying to remain polite.

"The McDougall's, on the other side of town, just got a new hunting dog that they're having a bitch of a time breaking." he explains. "They heard about what you did with that horse the other day and when I mentioned that I knew you, well, they asked if you'd be willing to come out and... tame it, I suppose?"

I blink, surprised. It's not that I've never calmed an angry dog before, I do as well with them as any other animal, but more that no one outside of family has ever sought my aid. Startled as I am, I am not averse to helping them though I do not think Alexandra will like my going.

"I will have to make sure Alexandra doesn't need me." I sign to him. He stares at me, not following. I sigh and motion that he should wait here while I get her.

As I suspected, Alexandra is not comfortable with my going into town at all but Jack promises that he will not leave my side and will keep me away from the parts of Albany that the three men were known to frequent. When she still appears skeptical, John reminds her of her own words about not 'keeping me hostage' on the farm. In the end, she relents but not before forcing yet another promise from Jack that he will keep me safe. Then I am helped up into Jack's wagon and we head off toward the town.

Jack talks at me the whole way and I nod when appropriate. Mostly I daydream or think about something else because I have little interest in his 'Militia' talk. I find my mind wandering to Uncas, who had trailed after me as I milked the cows the day before. Unlike Jack, Uncas was getting better and better at my 'hand language', as he called it. He spoke with his mouth less often now, only doing so if he didn't know a word. By the end of the day he was talking to the children as he would talk to me and making them laugh with his broken signage.

Now, if Uncas were to come to me with an offer of marriage…well, I would still say no but not because I lacked interest in him. The truth is that I did not know him. I would _like_ to get to know him better but Alexandra has been difficult on that front. She seems determined to keep a distance between us while pushing me forcefully into Jack Winthrope's arms. I suspect she and I will have to have a discussion about that in the future.

Jack guides the wagon through the busy street and out again into rolling country. We travel several miles down the road to a small cabin where an older woman is waiting outside for us. Jack helps me down from the wagon and introduces me to Fianne McDougall, an Irish woman whose husband, Rowan, is having the issue with the dog. She leads us toward the barn and introduces me to Rowan, who has an open and kind face.

"So you're the horse girl?" Rowans lips say to me. I smile at the nickname and nod. "There ain't much to you, is there? You sure she stopped a full grown horse?" This question is posed to jack, who laughs and assures him that I did. Rowan looks skeptical of my abilities but motions for us to follow nonetheless. He leads me to a horse pen that is locked and gestures inside with his thumb.

"Been keeping him in there." Rowans lips say. "He leans toward aggression so we should probably keep the door locked."

I purse my lips and sigh, honestly, why does everyone think I need to be protected all the time? I stride forward and lift the latch on the door. Rowan's face goes anxious as he moves to put the latch back in place.

"I said you should keep it locked." his lips shout at me. I sigh again, patiently this time, before turning to face him.

"You asked for my aid and I am going to give it but you must let me do this my way." I sign to him. He doesn't understand and turns to Jack. Jack shakes his head to indicate he doesn't understand either. It is Fainne that finally seems to comprehend what I am trying to say.

"I think she wants you to let her try something, dear." the old woman mouths to her husband, giving me a sweet smile. I nod at her in thanks.

"What if she gets bitten?" Rowan argues with his face a mask of unnecessary concern. I pat his hand reassuringly. I try to communicate with my eyes that I know what I am doing. Rowan steps back with a rigid set to his shoulders but reaches over to grab the rifle from nearby. I turn to face the door and slowly swing it open.

Inside is a dirty, black and white, sheep herding dog. It lifts its head when the door opens and I see its teeth pull back in a snarl. The dog's eyes are half wild in his head and I see this reaction is fear induced rather than anger fueled. I have seen this before with dogs brought in from other households versus those raised from pups, this dog has been ill-treated and mishandled.

I kneel in the doorway and stare at the dog evenly, with my gaze unwavering. I am offering challenge, in a way, but with some dogs this is necessary. There is value in showing a dog _who_ is dominant, but there are kinder ways to do so than with a heavy hand. I learned this as a child while watching our gamekeeper. The dog does what I would expect. He climbs to his feet, backing up with raised hackles.

I feel Rowan behind me with the gun but indicate he needs to step back and lower the weapon. He looks at me as though I am mad but something his wife says convinces him. I keep my eyes on the dog and push air through my lips in a low whistle. I see the dog give a snarling bark in answer. I do this again, holding out my hand.

The dog, being used to being hurt, launches itself across the small space to bite me. I bend my middle and index finger into a hook and when his snapping jaws get near my hand I use the fingers to depress his tongue. This doesn't hurt the dog but it does make it gag. He jumps back from me, confused. Again I whistle, again the dog snaps, and again I depress his tongue.

Finally, the dog shakes his head and saunters toward me, head down and pushes its nose up under the hand he had tried to bite. I do not move quickly, not wanting to startle the dog and bring on another round of snapping, and very gently rub my hand up to scratch one of his ears. The dog sits back on its haunches to stare at me, lost and confused. I hold out the other hand, palm side up toward him and tentatively he licks my fingers. I smile and stand up. I take a step back and the dog follows docilely, looking around.

Rowan and Fainne looks astonished and Jack just grins as though he is the reason I tamed the dog. I make a gesture to the dog to stop and sit, it does so. Then I motion for Rowan to come stand by me. I see the dog start to growl and give him a steady stare, he sits up straighter and stops lifting his lip. Once Rowan is by my side, I make him kneel before the dog so he is on its level. I indicate with two fingers that he needs to look at the dog steadily.

Rowan does so. Much like with me, the dog becomes agitated, expecting violence. I show him how to hook his finger to depress the tongue and try to show him with my hands that the dog will most likely offer attack. Then I have Rowan hold out a palm, Rowan is a quick study and when the dog does jump forward to snap, he does as I have shown him, digging his hand into the dog's moth to depress the tongue. He seems startled at this approach's effectiveness and startled again that his hand is mostly uninjured. I try to explain that a dog with a depressed tongue cannot put on bite pressure and he seems thoroughly impressed.

I, however, do not escape without some minor bleeding on my hand, which Fainne notices when I do not. She pulls my hand up with her warm one and studies the shallow tear on the back of it. It is not bad, I have had this happen before, and there is always danger in sticking one's hand into an animal's mouth. Once the dog is given some water and a chance at some exercise on their land I am led inside and Jack is sent to retrieve the doctor from town.

I try to tell them that I do not need to be fussed over but the older couple is insistent that the doctor look at my hand. What can I do? I wait with them while Fainne feeds me and trys to make sure I am comfortable. Jack returns about fifteen minutes later with Dr. Phelps, a kindly older man who smiles patiently as he studies the flesh of my hand. Much as I thought, there isn't much he can do, so he cleans the wound and smears some ointment on it before bandaging it for me. Once this is done, I bid the couple goodbye before promising to return soon to further help them with the dog.

Jack and I return the doctor to his offices and Jack takes me back to the Cameron's. Once we come up the path that leads to the house I am unsurprised to see Uncas, Nathanial and Chingachgook have arrived to help John with more barn repairs. Uncas is playing a game with the children when we pull up and comes forward to greet us as Jack jumps down from the carriage.

"Hello, Fox." I sign as Jack reaches up to help me down. Uncas is smiling until he sees my bandaged hand as Jack takes it to help me down. Once I am on the ground, Uncas walks over and lifts the hand up, mouthing 'what happened at me'

"I was asked to help a couple on the other side of town with an angry dog." I sign to him. "I got bit but it's not bad at all." I expect this answer to be sufficient. What I do not expect is the anger that creeps over his dark face. He turns to Jack Winthrope, enraged, holding out my hand as if Jack hasn't seen the injury.

"You let her handle and angry dog!" his lips say to the other man. He is angry, as though Jack has done something unthinkable. Jack appears as baffled as I am by this.

"Yes, and she's fine. The doctor gave her a clean bill of health." Jack responds, obviously startled by Uncas sudden rage.

"She could have been mauled or killed; did you give any thought to her safety at all?" Uncas demands. Jacks face also clouds over in anger and he steps up to the taller man to glare into his face.

"Oh, like you did when got her _backhanded_ at the dance, you mean?" Jack counters. I get between them before they start trading blows.

"Enough!" I gesture first to Jack and then to Uncas. I push them back away from each other with a hand on each ones chest. Lucy has walked over and is staring at all of us curiously. I gesture for her to come over and translate as I want no misunderstanding as to what I am about to say.

"First off," I sign and Lucy translates "I know how to handle myself with an irate animal, I've proven that already." Uncas face is still angry but he slowly loses his stiff posture.

"Second, I was asked for my help and I gave it. Jack merely took me there and back. He is not responsible for keeping me unmarred, nor are you." I sign to Uncas before I turn to look at Jack, who I have to tap on the arm to get his attention.

"Thirdly," I sign "Uncas is not at fault for my being struck. He simply for danced with me, nothing else. I danced with you and a few others as well, the only man who owns the blame for what happened is the one that hit me in the first place." Jack has the decency to look a little sheepish and drops his eyes from mine. I look between the two men firmly before I say my final words.

"Lastly, I am my own person. I decide where I go and what I do. As neither of you are courting me, neither of you has the right to fight over me. I don't want to see a display like this again."

Those words get their attention. They gape at me in shock as I walk away from both of them back towards the cabin. My words are spoken out of a need to assert my independence but I have unknowingly laid down a gauntlet for the two men to pick up. In the days to come my relationship with both of them begins to change and with that, so too does my life.

Authors note:

(Fainne is pronounced 'Fawn-yah' for anyone who's curious.

The trick that Alice does with the dog is something I learned from my dad and it does work if you're in the right position to do it. I don't recommend approaching any angry dogs to try this; it's just a useful trick if one snaps at you.

Well, Alice has laid down the gauntlet fr them to court her, though that wasn't exactly what she was trying to do. Todays chapter was Jack spending time with her, tomorrow is Uncas turn. Should be fun!)


	8. Chapter 8-The Uncomfortable Tea

The following week I find myself in town yet again, but this time it is not to help anyone with a nervous animal. It is time, once again, for another uncomfortable tea with Lady Corwin. I do not look forward to the visit and not just because I loathe the activity. I dread it because I spit in the face of her son and I worry that I will have to abide his company while in her household.

John escorts me to Lady Corwin's home with obvious reservations and when the butler closes the door on his face I feel a deep anxiety blooming in my chest. My father has not demanded that I offer apology for the 'rudeness I imparted on the good ladies son', I believe were his words, and for this I am grateful because I would have disobeyed him. I have no intention of apologizing to William, or his mother, for my reaction to being manhandled.

I am led once again to the rolling grounds behind the house and find that, once again, I will be graced with the company of Eugenie and her mother. I see their lips moving as I approach and manage to make out the words 'Imagine? With a savage no less' before they cover their mouths and laugh. Lady Corwin comes forward to take my hands and greets me genially enough.

"Oh my child, your father wrote me about your harrowing experience at the dance." her lips say as she looks stricken for me. She has wasted no time getting to the point it seems.

"Well, you simply must forgive William for his indiscretion;" she continues as she takes my arm and leads me to the table "he can act brazenly when he's got the drink on him. Boys will be boys after all."

It is a good thing I cannot speak, because if I could, I would have told her exactly what I thought of her '_brazen son's indiscretion_.' Instead I am forced to mold my face into a sweet smile as the butler pulls out my chair and I lower myself into it. Lady Corwin begins to distribute the tea, still rambling about how misunderstood her son is in town.

"And after all, dear," her lips continue as she pours tea into my cup, "you must own _your _part in it as well."

I look at her, shocked at her ignorant words. Yes, I spit in her son's face for manhandling me and I do not regret doing so. I would do it again if the situation called for it. She takes my shocked expression for confusion and leans in conspiratorially.

"You danced with a _savage_ after all? Really, dear, what were you thinking?" I imagine she is whispering this to me even though I plainly see Eugenie and her mother smile snidely behind their hands.

That is what this is really about? They are scandalized not that her son was inappropriate with me, not that he backhanded me like a common whore, and not even that I spit in his arrogant face for it. No, they are scandalized that I danced with Uncas. I am livid as I lift my tea to my mouth, its a wonder that my hands don't tremble with barely contained rage. I manage a tight smile as I lay the cup back on the saucer.

"Your pig of a son can rot in hell," I sign, still smiling sweetly. "And so can the rest of you"

They do not understand what I have said; Lady Corwin takes it as confirmation on my part that I am agreeing with her. She reaches over and pats my knee comfortingly.

"There now, let that be the end of it. Cake?" her lips say with a smile as she holds out the tray.

I finish the tea and hope that they all choke on the blasted cake. I decide in that moment that it is the last time they will see me. I will not return to this house again. They have insulted me in every possible way and I will not subject myself to it again. An hour later the wretched tea is finished and I all but fly for the front door to escape. I am just about to open it when a hand grasps my wrists firmly and tugs me roughly backwards.

If I had a voice I would have screamed loud enough to bring the house down but all I managed was a small hiss of air that I doubt anyone hears. My back thumps against a wall and I find myself in a shuttered sitting room with a male figure pressing up against me. He presses a hand against my throat and leans in to stare into my face intently.

It is William, Lady Corwin's son, who stares back at me. I can see the pale blonde hair peeking out from the ridiculous powdered wig he has plastered on his head. His limpid blue eyes smile evilly down into mine as he twists a lock of my hair that has fallen out of my bun with one finger.

"Well hello there, horse girl," his lips say to me "did you enjoy your tea with my mother?"

I struggle and try to push him back but he forces me back against the wall and presses his hand more firmly into my windpipe, cutting off my air.

"None of that." his lips continue, grinning. "You and I need to have a conversation, or rather, I need to talk and you need to….well, as you can't hear, I suppose you will have to watch my lips move and decipher the meaning in your own way."

He leans in close and I glare at him in the low light, his fingers tighten minutely against my throat and I can feel his breath on my face.

"Here's how this is going to go, deaf girl," his lips hiss at me, I know this because his spittle flies across my cheeks and I snarl at him like a dog. "You're going to offer apology for embarrassing me at the dance."

He presses up against me and I try not to vomit at the feeling of his sex pressing against my leg. I can feel him even through my layers of skirts and I wrinkle my nose in distaste. I see him laugh at my revulsion.

"Since you can't speak, you'll have to make it up to me some other way." He leans in close and runs his cheek along mine, nuzzling me like a cat. The hand that was twirling my hair is running down the boning at the front of my dress, heading for my lower regions.

"Once we're done here, you'll know never to treat me like that again." his lips threaten.

I bring up my hands and sign angrily:

"I'll never treat you any other way."

He doesn't know what I have signed and grins at me before diving in to kiss me harshly. He doesn't expect what happens next. I catch his lower lip between my teeth and bite down with as much force as I can muster. I taste his blood in my mouth as he roughly yanks his head away from me. I waste no time, I dive out of the sitting room and haul open the door to run out into the street. John is not here yet and I do not wait around to look for him, I run blindly down the dirt road.

I sense that William is chasing me, even though I can't hear him. I have tears running down my face and his blood on my chin and now I feel fear instead of anger. I skid into the market place and dart into the crowd where he cannot easily get to me. My hair has fallen out of the bun Alexandra had so painstakingly wrapped it in and hangs loosely around my shoulders, I have lost my cap somewhere back in the road. I whirl to see that William has been forced to stop in his pursuit of me because there are too many people for him to be able to catch me easily.

He has a hand pressed against his lip as we stare at each other through the crowd. He has lost his wig and his long blonde hair hangs limply around his face. His eyes are dark and deadly as he points one finger at me as if to say 'This isn't over'. I turn on my heel and run.

I run until my chest hurts and my legs ache from exertion, catching myself on a fence post. I still have tears falling off my cheeks and onto the warm wood of the post under my hands. My god, what would have happened if I hadn't escaped him? Would he really have tried to take me right there in his mother's sitting room?

I let out a sob and sink to the ground, trembling. I bury my face in my knees and weep, relieved that I got away from him but not knowing what that this will mean for my future here. After the dance, they had all been concerned about my staying. There had been talk of sending me home. Well, I think I have just made the situation ten times worse.

The feeling of hands on my arms send me into a panic, I struggle to get away, hitting blindly with my fists. I think that it is him, that he has followed me and intends to finish what he started at his mother's. I try to flee until warm hands grasp my face and make me look up. I find myself staring into dark eyes, not pale ones. The hair falling around the face is onyx and shiny, not pale blonde. It is Uncas that stares back at me, not William.

I still as I look at him as his face shifts from stricken to angry as he takes note of the blood on my lower lip and chin. His fingers reach out to touch my lip and I see his mouth say "Is this blood, what happened?"

"Not mine." I numbly sign. "Not mine."

I feel shock setting in and a tremble begins in my limbs. I blearily take in the image of scantily clad Native men behind him and down the road, they are peeking around the fence at us and some of them hold what looks like lacrosse racquets.

"What happened, Rabbit?" he signs at me, trying to focus me so I don't fall any further into shock than I already am. "Whose blood is this?"

"William." I spell the name with my hands. Thankfully I have already taught him most of the sign alphabet so he figures out what I am spelling before I am even done.

"Why is his blood on your chin?" he speaks and signs this.

"Bit him." I sign back and then I laugh because the situation suddenly seems very funny to me. Uncas blinks at me as I laugh and then just as suddenly as I begin to laugh, I begin to cry. He doesn't ask me anything else; instead he gathers me into his arms and carries me over to where the Natives with the racquets are watching. I have a brief moment to take in Nathanial and Chingachgook hurrying over. Soon enough, I also see Jack approaching. I only wonder vaguely, in the part of my mind that is still rational, what they are all doing here.

Uncas carries me over to a tree and sets me down. His father hands him a canteen. Nathanial brings over a colorful blanket which Uncas wraps around me. It is summer and quite hot, yet I feel chilled as though I were naked in the middle of winter. Uncas pushes the canteen against my lips and wraps my hands around it, trying to persuade me to drink. I do so numbly, trying to get control off my quacking nerves.

The men have a conversation that I don't try to follow. Uncas speak to them briefly, probably telling them what little I told him and then Nathanial and Jack hurry away. Once they are gone, Uncas turns my face to his and his eyes are raw with concern.

"What did he do, Rabbit?" his lips ask me.

I swallow and I try to get control of myself. I am tired now; the adrenaline and fear that had coursed through my system are fading away and leaving behind a deep weariness. I look into his face and slowly bring my hands up out of the blanket.

"He forced a kiss on me," I sign quickly "he would have done more but I bit him and ran. I think I have just made the situation worse, Fox." I see his face tighten and his hands come up to grasp my face again.

"You did nothing wrong." his lips tell me, I know he is speaking firmly from the set of his jaw. "Don't let anyone tell you that this is your fault."

The tears come again but this time they are tired one. He brushes them away with his thumbs. We are being watched by the other native men and I wonder how this must appear to them. Uncas runs from the game because some white girl his having a panic attack in the road and then two of their others players take off for no reason. I suddenly feel very insecure with all their eyes on me and pull back away from Uncas' hands. I lean my head back against the tree and close my eyes.

I must have fallen asleep because the next sensation I am aware of are arms lifting me from the ground. I open my eyes to find that Uncas has once again picked me up and is carrying me toward John Cameron's wagon. So that is where Jack and Nathanial went when they fled so quickly. I lay a hand on Uncas chest and he stops walking to look down at me.

"I can walk, Fox." I sign. "You needn't carry me."

He sets me back on my feet gently and I am happy to say that my legs don't wobble. He leads me to the carriage and he and Jack help me up into the back. After their fight over me at the homestead the week before I did not expect to see them united like this. Their faces are set and angry and as one they turn to look at Nathanial who nods. I do not have time to ask what this means before John snaps the horse's reins and we are off.

I am not permitted back in town after Alexandra learns of the incident with William, and I find that I am at peace with that. I had already decided that I would not attend anymore teas with his mother so it was a moot issue anyway. The downside is that I have to turn down many a request for help with difficult animals from people in the surrounding countryside. I was finally finding my niche when William went and ruined it all. Now I was back at square one; learning to run a household.

I never was told what happened after John and I left Albany that day, what the look that passed between the three men meant. Uncas came to see me daily and said nothing when I asked. Neither too, would Jack, when he came nightly for dinner. All they would say to me is 'Don't worry about it'

This answer frustrates me because I worried they have done something horrible in my defense. I do not want to be responsible for either of them being hurt or jailed. All I know is that the two men who are apparent rivals for my attention now seem united in some way and, as relieving as that fact should be it concerns me.

I think Uncas sees my boredom and agitation at being stuck at the homestead for so long. I have shared with him my frustration at my 'blooming career' as an animal handler having died as quickly as it has begun. I think it was this frustration that gave him an idea.

One morning, before breakfast, I notice him coming out of the woods as I emerge from the henhouse with a basket. I smile and wave as he walks up to me. He grins and takes the basket from my arm as he takes my hand and leads me back toward the cabin.

"Give these to Alexandra and get your hat." He signs to me as he pushes open the door. Alexandra looks up in surprise as we walk in; it is not common for him to arrive this early.

"Why?" I sign back as he hands Alexandra the basket.

"Because today I am taking you to the Lenape summer camp," he signs back to me "they have some new horses that they could use your help with."


	9. Chapter 9-Decisions

Alexandra is not completely thrilled with the idea of me accompanying Uncas to the Lenape summer camp but I believe she feels like she cannot say no either. She knows that I am going stir crazy. There is only so much weeding, gardening, and housekeeping one can do to keep one's self occupied. If her cabin becomes any cleaner then she will be the one going stir crazy out of lack of anything to do.

She grudgingly relents to let me go but only after she extracts a promise from Uncas that I will be returned in the same condition in which I leave. This is an inadvertent insult to Jack, who brought me back with a bandaged hand from my last trip to 'help' someone. I can't help but smile at her. It's the first disparaging thing she has implied about him. She returns the smile in a resigned way; I believe she is starting to accept that Uncas is not going out of my life unless I choose to send him away. I am not prepared to do that and, as I look at him smiling at her sheepishly, promising that I will be returned in pristine condition, I realize that maybe I _would_ consider and offer from Uncas.

Then I shake myself and remind myself that I am not here for romance. I am here to make my _own_ life in a way of my _own_ choosing. There will be time for thoughts of marriage later. I retrieve my hat and kiss the children goodbye while Uncas tells Alexandra he will bring me back at dinnertime. She informs him that he better do so in a mock, stern, mother's voice before laughing and waving us off.

I am thrilled to be out in the woods, my nerve endings practically vibrating with the relief of being out of the same four walls. I wrote to my father and sister, informing them of my intention to not attend anymore tea's with Lady Corwin. I told my father why and so far he has not responded to my letters. I do not know if this is a good sign or not but I refuse to back down from my decision. I have never fit into high society and will not put myself through the humiliation of it again.

"What are you thinking about so hard, Rabbit?" Uncas signs to me when he sees my happy smile.

"I am thinking that I am so happy to be out of the cabin that I may never go back." I sign back. I see Uncas laugh at this and find that I like how his cheekbones rise when he laughs; I mean really laughs and not the male chuckle that all of them seem to do whilst amused. I find it lights up his face very pleasingly.

"I think Alexandra might have my hide if you don't return." he jokes back. I give him a rueful grin as I lift my skirt to step over a fallen log.

"What if we ran away?" I sign at him, excitedly. "What if we went north and didn't look back?"

He takes my hypothetical question for seriousness and his face goes very still. I realize I have just implied something with greater meaning than I truly intended. I suddenly feel very embarrassed. Uncas sees my expression and smiles again, taking my arm to lead me onto the more even footing of the deer path.

"That means something very different to my people than it would to yours." his lips say. Once we are on the path he begins signing again. "You have just inadvertently made me an offer of marriage."

I am mortified and my cheeks flame red. I was joking; I didn't mean to make any such offer. One look at my face and he laughs again.

"Well, it _is_ a tempting offer." he teases me, shrugging. "You could do worse than me."

I slap his arm but return the smile. Then we let any other talk of marriage or offers fall away. All conversation from that point on is of a teaching nature. He asks me the signs for things in the forest and I show him as we walk.

It is a good way to pass the hour walk to the Lenape camp. I actually smell the camp before I see it. First, there is the smell of burning wood and under that, the smell of warm clay and fish. Further in is the scent of leather being dried and cured and, finally, we clear the trees so that I can see what my sense of smell has already told me.

The Lenape summer camp is set up along the river in an open glade. The structures that I assume they use for housing are long and covered with sticks and cured hides. Outside these structures are women who are engaged in any number of activities; from sewing shirts, to cooking meals, to pounding grain to make bread. I imagine the sounds that must be present in the camp. If I close my eyes I can feel the heat from the fire and imagine the popping and crackling of it.

Children run past us with happy faces and I imagine their squeals of delight as they race off into the forest to play. Uncas has to tap my shoulder to get my attention because I am staring. I shake myself and follow him across the glade to where a group of Native men are gathered, talking. I feel the need to keep my gaze down as we approach because the Native Braves are barely clothed.

It is a hot summer day, I am wearing as little as I can get away with simply to be comfortable and I am still over warm. These men wear loin clothes and little else. Their bare chests are decorated with any number of tattoo's that scrawl their way over collar bones and down arms. I have been conditioned all my life to regard this as uncivilized, and though I do not feel this way upon looking at them now, I still feel girlish modesty in their presence.

They greet Uncas with smiles and talk in a language that I cannot follow, even while reading their lips. It doesn't matter, I figure out what is happening quickly enough. He introduces me and they look me over before disregarding me to turn their attention back to him. I can see he is explaining about my gift with animals and I can see that they are skeptical and hesitant to let me help. I imagine what they are saying to him is this:

"Are you insane? That horse is evil, she'd be trampled!"

I use this phrasing only because the man that Uncas is talking to actually looks like he thinks Uncas is crazy. He is pointing off to the side and gesturing wildly as Uncas continues to try to talk to him reasonably. I can see that words will not convince him and decide that I am going to have to harness some of my sister's natural boldness.

I turn from the conversation that is becoming slightly more heated to look for where they keep the horses. I see them grazing farther down the glade and study them for a moment to look for the one_ I_ think is giving them trouble. It does not take me long to find him. He is dark in color and sidling back and forth, ill at ease with the company of the more docile horses.

This is a wild horse, I realize, feeling great excitement. I have never handled a truly wild horse before; this will be a challenge indeed. I walk toward the nervous animal as the men continue to argue and I do not think they have seen me go. It doesn't matter, let them argue, I have a point to make.

The dark horse is nervous and I stop a few yard from him to give him space. He sees me and his ears flatten, he rears up and paws the ground aggressively, giving me a warning. I try the whistle I used on the horse in the square and see his ears go up, listening before flatting again in distrust. He idles sideways, curious about me but not wanting to get closer. Curiosity I can work with.

I move in the opposite direction of the horse but am still circling him. As I move to where the horse had been standing I see that I now have the men's attention, a few are even staring in open mouthed awe. Uncas just looks pleased with himself. I turn my attention back to the horse, whose nostrils flair in agitation. Poor beast, he was probably forcefully taken from a herd and brought to a place where he is an outsider. We are not so different, this horse and I.

Our circling becomes a game after a while. I will idle to the side and he will jump to the other. I keep my face calm, pleasant, I offer no aggression and I do not approach him. After a few minutes he becomes bolder, hopping to my side to nudge an arm and running away. I grin at this. Ah, so that is how it is to be? All right then.

I take the challenge and slink up to pat his rump before darting to the side and away. He answers by shaking his head and running a wide circle around me. He thinks he is sneaking up behind me and I let him think it as his head very gently butts my behind. I laugh as I whirl and he pretends to run away.

I walk over and walk past him, simply running my fingers along his cheek and then stand with my back to him, waiting. I can feel his powerful steps in the earth at my feet as he comes up behind me again and stops. I smile as I wait and, ever so slowly, the horse lowers his head onto my shoulder and nuzzles my cheek. I smile as I bring my hand up to pat his soft snout. Then I turn to face him and he doesn't run this time.

The horse and I look into each other's eyes and I think we form a sort of understanding in that moment. I run my hand down the length of his nose gently and pat his neck with my other hand. I think this horse is homesick, he misses his herd. I will have to work with him a great deal more before the others will be able to handle him.

Uncas and the other men approach with looks of astonishment and I am unsurprised when the horse moved in front of me protectively and flattens his ears, pawing the ground again in aggression. The men take a step back, their eyes wide. I step around the horse and lay a hand on his neck again; He calms but does not stop watching the others warily.

"This horse needs more time." I sign and see Uncas translate for me. "I will have to return and work with him more. He is not ready to trust others as yet."

"How did you do this?" one Native Brave is asking. "This horse is like a demon, no one can touch him."

"He is merely scared." I sign back. I notice a few men staring at me warily when I sign and backing away. I narrow my eyes in confusion and look at Uncas.

"Fox, why do they look at me like that?" I sign to him.

I see the Braves back up even more and make a strange symbol with their hands, like they are warding me off. Uncas sees this and rolls his eyes for a moment before going over to speak to them. I don't know what he says but after a moment they relax and he comes back over slowly, so as not to agitate the horse. I pull some sugar from my pocket that I pilfered from a jar back at the cabin. The horse nuzzles the palm immediately, giving the Natives a chance to move a bit closer.

"They thought your signs, coupled with your taming the horse, were a sign of evil, I just explained to them that you are deaf and this is how you communicate." he mouths at me, he doesn't have the ability to sign this yet. I laugh, I have been called many things but no one has ever accused me of being evil before. The horse's ears go up at my quiet laugh and I pat its nose reassuringly.

After a few more moments with the horse I am led back to the main camp area for some food. I don't know exactly how to describe the Native women's reactions to me other than to say that they are fascinated by me. They are fascinated by my nearly platinum hair that I pull out of its bun so they can touch and braid it. They arr fascinated by way of communicating and begin to mimic my signs. By the end of the first trip to the Lenape camp, I have many of the women signing basic things to one another as well as to me.

No, that was not to be my only trip to the Lenape summer camp. In fact, for the next month and a half I visit several times and manage to show the men how to play the horses game, how to earn his trust. He is a very obstinate beast and for a long time I am the only one who can get him back in line. It earns me a name among the Lenape people, I cannot say it, obviously, but I know its meaning. The name is Horse Dancer.

Those trips to the Camp set several things in motion. The first being that Jack steps up his attempts to court me; He makes arrangements for me to… well, apprentice is the word I suppose, with the only man in Albany who is skilled at healing horses. I obviously cannot do this in town, as it is still too dangerous for me to be there, so I have to be taken to the man's house. It is out in the country near the McDougall's farm. His name is Marcus; he is a middle aged gentleman who is fascinated by my ability with animals. He teaches me how to make Poultices for injured legs, how to help birth a colt, and gives me my first real way to make money on my own. He is not bothered by my handicap and I manage to show him a few things about handling a stubborn thoroughbred.

The other thing that the trips to the camp set in motion is my realization that I have very real feelings for Uncas. It does not mean I am suddenly ready to run away with him, he certainly has made me no such offer, but my inadvertent 'marriage proposal' on that first visit to the camps still hangs between us.

I have become very adept at the Lenape way of doing things because I spend so much time with the women while I am there. They teach me to skin a kill, how to dry the meat, a few have even tried to teach me how to make a shirt. I am woefully bad a shirt making and become the butt of a few good natured jokes, but I think the Lenape are also waiting to see what will happen between Uncas and I.

At dinner, I see Jack would watch my face for some hint that I might accept him. I know he has asked John what he thinks I might say if he makes an offer of marriage. I know Alexandra would prefer I choose jack because he can offer me a more comfortable life style. I do like jack and I am grateful to him for setting me to apprentice with Marcus… but I do not love him.

So, one evening as Uncas is escorting me back to the cabin, I study his face for signs of how he might feel about me. We have spent a great deal of time together over the last month. He is now very proficient with my way of communicating. It is heading on toward fall now and the leaves are beginning to change. Soon the Lenape with will pack up their village and move onto the winter camp many miles away. I wonder if Uncas will go with them. I find that I do not like the idea of his leaving.

"Fox," I sign "will you leave with the Lenape when they go? I know your father is planning to do so." He stops in the path to look at me and takes on a thoughtful expression. After a moment he shrugs.

"I hadn't thought about it, maybe." he signs back indifferently. I feel a lump rise in my throat. I find that I do not want him to go; he has become my friend in my brief time here. Perhaps more than a friend, if I am honest, though we have not touched each other with anything other than familiarity before.

I think back to the attack William made on me, how he had wiped the tears from my face when I cried. That had been the closest to intimacy we had ever gotten. Is that my fault? Have I put him off from even trying to get close to me or is he simply giving me space to discover my own feelings.

"I don't know what I shall do if you go." I sign to him sadly. "You have been a good friend to me."

"I wouldn't be gone forever, Rabbit," he signs back reassuringly "only until spring. Besides, you have your apprenticeship to keep you busy."

I nod and look down; I have no follow up to this. _Yes_, I think, _I have my apprenticeship with Marcus_…_But it is not the same as my trips to the camp with you._ I do not know how to communicate this to him in a way that makes sense. I see his looming absence rising before me and other than begging, I don't know how else to show him that I want him to stay.

The house comes into view and soon enough we are at the edge of the tree line. It is getting dark and I can see lantern light shining in the windows. I turn to him and he smiles at me in the low light.

"Tomorrow then?" he signs to me. I manage a weak smile back and nod, signing 'tomorrow' at him. I make myself turn and walk toward the cabin. I know he will watch until I am inside, as he always does. I am halfway between cabin and forest when I stop. I turn back to look at him, standing in the tree line and see his questioning look even from this distance.

I don't want him to go; I don't want him to disappear for the long months of winter and not see his smiling face every day. He needs a reason to stay and though I am unready to tie myself to anyone with any long term promises, I realize that I must give him _some_ reason not to go. I only hesitate for a moment, gathering my resolve, before I hurry back over to him.

I believe he thinks I have forgotten something, or that I have a question for him. He does not expect me to throw my arms around him. He does not expect me to pull his lips down to mine in a desperate kiss. His arms catch me as my arms fly around his neck; his lips are stiff against mine for only a minute before he responds, pulling me in against him. When I end the kiss and pull back to look at him, his face is a bewildered mask.

"Please don't go away?" I sign to him.

Then I release him and hurry toward the house. I turn back once more to look at him once I am at the door, he is still standing in the tree line. I catch his eyes even from that distance and slowly I see a smile spread over his face. It is an awed, goofy sort of smile, but not the kind that says my kiss was unwelcome. I give him a shy answering grin before opening the door and stepping inside. I turn to greet Alexandra and find her and John sitting by the fire, looking haggard. I know I am not late and I doubt they saw my impromptu kiss with Uncas. I cannot fathom why they look so drawn.

"What is it?" I sign, coming further into the room. They look up at me with worried eyes. Slowly, Alexandra holds out a piece of parchment.

"It is a letter from you father." Alexandra's lips say tightly. "You might want to sit down."

I take the letter from her with shaking fingers and, swallowing a rising lump of fear in my throat, I begin to read.

Author's note:

(Well, we are hitting the solid middle of the story now. Needless to say, the next couple of chapters will be decision making time for Alice. Obviously, Jack is going to make her an offer at some point (who didn't see that one coming? XD) and we'll see her reaction to that. Then there's Uncas, who will probably need some POV scenes before the big scene I have planned.

More on Marcus, next chapter, I introduced him and breezed by him in order to jump my narrative from summer to beginning of fall. Also more on Alice's relationship with the middle to lower classes of Albany…this will be important for later.

I'm really happy that everyone likes this story so much; I didn't expect it to get near the attention its getting. I'm enjoying writing it a lot and may actually finish this one before 'Coming back to you' at this point.

Thanks again for reading and reviewing!)


	10. Chapter 10-Letters and Proposals

_My dear Cousin,_

_I am alarmed at the reports I have received about my daughter's behavior whilst under your roof. I am told by the good Lady, Mrs. Edward Corwin, that not only is Alice squandering her time in the company of savages, but that this same savage severely beat the Lady's son outside a local tavern a month ago. _

I stiffen as I read this; _that_ was what happened after they deposited me in the wagon and hastened John to get me out of town? I never asked them to do that, I never asked anyone to seek retribution for what William did, and I certainly would not ask them to do something so violent. Swallowing a lump rising in my throat I continue to read.

_This behavior must be dealt with swiftly and any relations with the savage cut off immediately. You have mentioned before that a Jack Winthrop has shown interest in a union with Alice. I give you my permission to marry her to him whether she concedes to a union or not. I will write a letter to my daughter informing her of my decision. She has abused your hospitality and for that I am deeply apologetic. She may have done irreversible damage to my reputation as well. The sooner she is someone else's burden, the better for all of us. _

_May god look on and protect you and yours,_

_Col. Edmund Munro_

The parchment in my hands becomes dotted with water spots and it takes me a moment to realize I am crying. I stare at the letter but I don't really see it, I am so frozen and hurt by my father words that I can barely form a coherent thought. Alexandra's hands appear in my line of sight as she takes the letter from my hands. I do not move, I do not look at her, I can barely believe what I have just read.

_The sooner she is someone else's burden, the better for all of us. _

I still see these words floating before my eyes like tangible objects that I could reach out and touch. I always knew that he did not care for me; I always knew that he favored Cora but he had never put the feelings forth in such a bitter and hurtful way. Now he intended to force me into a union with a man that I liked well enough but did not love. He was forbidding me to see a man that I was developing a connection with out of fear for _his_ reputation. I look up at Alexandra with tearful, pleading eyes.

"Has the world turned upside down?" I sign to her. "Am I having a nightmare? Will I wake soon and find that none of this is actually happening?"

Alexandra kneels before my chair and her face is so stricken for me. She looks as though she too could weep for what is happening.

"I am so sorry, Alice," she signs to me "we wrote him out of obligation about Jack, when he first put forth the desire to marry you, we did not do so to force you into a union with him."

I do not blame John and Alexandra for this; they did only what they thought was appropriate. They could not foresee that Lady Corwin would write my father as well, or that my father would side with her and her son against me. I feel as though my heart is tearing in two, it is almost painful for me to breathe. John comes forward and kneels next to his wife; he lays a gentle hand on my knee.

"Cousin, we will not force you to do this if your heart is not in it, but I do not know what your father will do if we ignore his request. It is very likely that you will be removed from our care to another household," his lips tell me before his face clouds over with a dark thought "possibly even to the house of the 'Good Lady" and her rat bastard of a son."

My breath hitches in my throat at this thought, I would rather die than be forced into a situation where I would constantly be at Williams mercy. John is not wrong to fear this either; that is exactly what my father would do. Alexandra sees my face and sets her jaw firmly. She reaches out to take my hand in hers before she speaks.

"Alice, are you in love with Uncas?" her lips ask me.

I blink, surprised. For a long moment I am unable to sign anything so she continues in the midst of my silence.

"You know that I do not adore the idea of your eloping with him but I would rather you have a life with someone you love than someone who is forced upon you by an ignorant man."

I pull my hand away and hold it against my chest as my shock and fear turns to a misguided anger. Why does everyone suddenly want to marry me off? Why is marriage suddenly the answer to all of my problems? I do not know if I love Uncas, but I know that if I were forced into a choice it would be him. Being forced into a union does not a good marriage make. My mother did not love my father when she married him. Cora told me once that my mother was in love with my Grandfather's 'Master of the Horse' and that he planted her in my father's house and bed to keep a tighter rein on her. Wasn't my father now doing the same thing to me, simply to maintain his hold on his reputation?

"I hardly plan to marry anyone," I sign back angrily before I scrub the tears from my face with the back of my hand "nor do I plan to be carted off to that monsters home."

"Then what _do_ you plan to do?" Alexandra signs back.

"What I plan to do is write my father a strongly worded letter about what the 'Good Lady's' son gets up to in town. I will also write to my sister and see if she can talk some sense into him. He has always listened to her before, perhaps he will again."

That is exactly what I end up doing. I skip supper that night to write a scathing letter to my father and a pleading one to Cora, begging her to not let father do this to me. The next morning, when John takes me into town for my lessons with Marcus, I drop the letters off at the courier myself.

I am distracted as I help Marcus sooth a horse with a fractured leg. I am staring off into space, thinking about so many different things. I am thinking about the kiss with Uncas from the night before and how wonderful it felt to hold him. I am thinking about the knowledge I now have that Uncas, jack, and possibly Nathanial too, beat William severely for nearly raping me.

I do not know how I feel about this. I cannot say that part of me isn't satisfied that it happened but another part is angry that it was done without my knowledge, without even my consent. I would _not_ have consented to such a plan, not even for a bastard like William.

"Hold his head up, Alice," Marcus mouths to me after tapping my foot with his fingers "He keeps nibbling the top of my head.

I apologize and focus on my task until Marcus can get the leg smeared with ointment and rewrapped. Then he stands and pats the horses flank before piercing my eyes with his serious stare. He pushes his spectacles up his nose and faces me.

"So who is he?" his lips ask.

At first I do not follow, shaking my head at him. Marcus folds his arms over his chest and gives me a look that says 'really?' before I catch on to his meaning. Then I flame red and look at my hands, which I am twisting in agitation. Finally I sigh and look back up at him.

"Does it really have to be about a man?" I sign to him. Marcus knows enough of my signs to follow what I am saying but he doesn't use his hands to speak to me, ever. This was a bone of contention with me at first but as time went one, I began to realize he did this for my benefit. To make me aware of the people around me who will not cater to my handicap.

"Isn't it always?" he counters with a small smile.

I have to laugh at this and finally I sigh and try to explain the situation to him. He is quiet as I sign the story to him, all of it. We guide the injured horse gently back to its stall, place water and fresh hay nearby and lock the stall door. Once this is accomplished, I am finished with my strange tale, and we lean back against the stall door to rest.

"Would marrying Jack be so bad?" Marcus poses to me.

"I do not love him." I sign back.

"And the other man, Uncas? What of him?" he mouths.

"He has not made me an offer." I reply with quick fingers, not mentioning my apparent joke of an offer to Uncas.

"Would you accept him if he did?"

"Why is everyone so _fixated_ on whether or not I marry?" I explode, gesturing angrily and quickly with my fingers. "Marriage is not the solution to my deafness; it is not the solution to mending my father's precious reputation!"

Marcus lets me have my outburst and says nothing until I wind down. Finally I turn back to him and place my hands on my hips, exasperated.

"Is this going to be the solution that everyone gives me? Tie myself to a man and let him tell me what to do?" I sign.

"You are a woman, Alice; I think you already know the answer to that question." he mouth to me. I sigh and slump, walking back to lean against the stall door again. He is right, I realize glumly, independent women do not fare well in this world. It is no different back in England; perhaps it was a pipe dream to assume it would be here.

We speak no more on the marriage issue; I am led back to the house and John retrieves me in early afternoon. Once I am back at the cabin, I thrown myself into house work so that I don't have to think about my father or marriage or anything at all. This only works until dinner when Jack arrives, as he does most nights of the week, for supper.

I sign very little at dinner and when the dishes are cleared, Jack only vaguely surprises me by asking me to walk out to his wagon with him. So it is to happen now? I had expected a little more time to prepare a response to this; it appears fate isn't going to grant me that. Alexandra watches us leave with anxious knowing eyes. I think she knows I will refuse Jack Winthrop and not because she truly believes I am in love with Uncas. She knows Jack will not make me happy nor I him. It is that simple. We walk to his wagon silently and when we get there he turns to face me. I hold my breath, waiting, as his lips begin to move.

"I am sure by now that you are aware that I have grown quite fond of you." Jack begins, speaking slowly. "I am sure you are also aware that I have put forth an intention to John to ask for your hand if your father is amenable to the union."

I give a nod, still not breathing as I wait for him to get to the point we are both waiting for him to make.

"I am told he is, so, the only other person left to ask is you," His lips say "however," as he pauses I release the held breath, I did not expect the 'however' to appear in his speech "I have another question first. I know that you accompany Uncas to the Lenape summer camp regularly. I know that his time with you is equal if not more so than my own so I must ask, Alice… do you love him?"

I know I must be staring at him as though I have gone feebleminded. I had not expected his proposal to take this turn. There is so much I want to say in this moment but he doesn't know enough of my signs for me to convey the words. I want to say that I enjoy both their company in different ways and that if I were any other girl I would probably accept him in a second. I cannot convey any of this to Jack so all I can do is shake my head and shrug to indicate that I do not know.

"If I ask for your hand right now, would you accept me?" his lips ask me pointedly. I give him a sad smile and shake my head, telling him I would not. I expect anger or disappointment for this answer but instead he smiles at me.

"I did not think that you would," his lips respond "and truth be told, part of me hoped you wouldn't." I look at him questioningly and he leans back against the wagon as he begins to explain.

"We both know my true love is for the Colonial Militia. I've talked you to death about it." Jack explains and I nod. "Well, it looks as though that dream is becoming a reality. Colonel Webb wants us to report to Fort William Henry at the months end for duty. Had I married you, I would not be able to go and leave you all alone in Albany."

I am happy for Jack, that what he truly wants is coming to fruition at last. I wish him all the best with it. I convey this as best I can and he seems to understand. We smile at each other as friends for a moment longer before he pats my cheek affectionately.

"You will always be the most interesting female I have ever had the pleasure of meeting," His lips tell me kindly "and Uncas is lucky to have you."

My face must show confusion at these words and he laughs before climbing up into his wagon.

"All right, pretend you don't know what I'm talking about then." His lips joke. I shake my head and laugh as well as Jack grins once more before shaking the horse's reins and riding away.

I watch him until he is gone and hope fervently that he will find a woman that shares his passion for politics. He deserves to be happy, even if it isn't with me. I tell John and Alexandra that I have refused his proposal and they are unsurprised, though they look at each other with troubled eyes, wondering what this will mean for me.

The next day, I am once again in route to the Lenape summer camp with Uncas, and as we walk along in awkward silence I try to think of a way to broach the subject of what he and the others did to William. We have not touched each other intimately since the kiss and spoke nervously to one another when he came to retrieve me this morning. Finally, I can take the silence no longer and stop him with a hand on his arm.

"Fox," I sign "Did you and the others beat William after he attacked me?"

"Yes." he answers simply.

"Why, I did not ask you to do that?" I sign back quickly.

"We did not do it because you asked us to." he responds firmly "we did it because someone needed to do something about him."

"Yes, and now I am being blamed for it.' I retort angrily and without thinking. This makes Uncas eyes narrow and I find myself looking down. I cannot take back what I have signed or back out a conversation that I have started. He takes my upper arms in his hands and I look up at him slowly.

"Who is blaming you for this?" his lips ask me, firmly. I sigh and pull away, walking over to sit on a nearby rock. He follows and stands in front of me, waiting for me to tell him what this is about. I sign to him about my father's letter to John, the hurtful things he said, and his command that I accept Jack as my husband. When I am done, his expression is guarded and unreadable. I have no idea what he is thinking right now.

"Did John make you an offer?" if it is possibly for someone to sign tightly, then Uncas achieved it. I could see the tenseness of his shoulders as he inwardly prepared to be devastated.

"He did," I reveal "I turned him down."

His face shows such utter jubilation for the briefest of moments before he gets his emotions under control again.

"Fox, did you beat William merely because he has done this to others before me or was there another reason?" I sign, returning to our original conversation. His eyes, where they stare into mine are deep and warm. They are eyes I could get lost in.

"Do I really have to say it?" he counters. I flush, suddenly nervous. I look down at my hands in my lap and fight the urge to twist them as I normally do when I am nervous. His fingers are suddenly under my chin and turning my face up as he leans down to look at me.

"What game are we playing here, Rabbit?" his lips ask as he kneels in front of me.

I bite my lip and tuck it under my teeth as I stare back at him. Everyone keeps asking me if I love him and I keep dodging the question. I'm not _not_ in love with him but I know that is not an answer. I kissed him the last time we were together and begged him to stay, I turned down an offer of marriage that I was commanded to accept. Did I do all that out of love?

"You asked me not to go," his lips continue "you turned down Jack Winthrop. What do _you _want?"

"Freedom," I finally sign "choice, the right to make my own decisions about who I tie myself to."

"Are you choosing to tie yourself to me?" he signs. It is a simple enough question and should have a simple enough answer but nothing is simple anymore.

"I am afraid even that choice will be taken away." I respond, agitated. "I fear my refusal of Jack will result in my removal to another home, possibly Lady Corwin's. I'm afraid of a great deal at the present moment, Fox."

"There is _another_ choice, you know?" he points out; I look at him with raised eyebrows. "Come with me to the Lenape Winter camp?"

"Are you proposing to me now too?" I ask, my heart pounding hard in my chest. He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck with a nervous grin.

"Not exactly.' Uncas clarifies. "Marriage is different with the Lenape, there's no ceremony to speak of. Generally, one builds a _wigwam_ and states their intentions to a female's father."

He tries to sign the rest of his explanation but ends up speaking instead; I have made him nervous with my question.

"Finally, the couple moves into the _wigwam_ and starts a family if the father is agreeable. You wouldn't have to live with _me _if you don't want to; the Lenape like you, any one of the families would accept you into their home." he finishes.

I think about his words, I had not considered running away at all. I am a deaf girl who cannot even fire a gun, going off to live on my own seems like a death wish. Going off to live with the Lenape iss not an altogether un-agreeable prospect, though it is a prospect that I will have to give some thought to before I proceeded. Their way of life is entirely different even than life at the cabin. Am I prepared for that? Looking at Uncas I realize that it would not be so bad to see him every day.

"May I think on that for a while?" I ask. "I am not adverse to the idea but…" I let anything else I might have said trail off. He cups my cheeks in his hands and smiles at me softly.

"Yes, but don't think on it forever, Rabbit," his lips say to me "The Lenape will leave in a month with or without you."

"And you?" I sign, heart pounding like a blacksmiths hammer. He leans in until his forehead is resting against mine.

"I'll wait as long as it takes.' his lips whisper.

I close the distance between us and kiss him the way I should have before. I hold his cheeks with my palms and he pulls me in against him as though he could mold my body to his. We are breathless when the kiss ends, staring at one another as though the answers to the world were in each other's eyes.

"Oh, my rabbit," I see his lips say as he brushes a strand of hair behind my ear. "What will I do with you?"

We end up walking hand in hand the rest of the way to the Lenape camp and I feel even more amenable to his suggestion. The women have taught me a great deal about their way of life, it is not so much of a leap for me to join them. After all, I am unwelcome and _persona non gradita_ amongst my own people; maybe I should try my hand at living with the Natives.

Uncas and I kiss again when he accompanies me home. It is a long lingering kiss in the darkening forest and I wish that I did not have to leave him to return to the cabin. He brushes my cheek gently with his hand before kissing me one last time and pushing me gently back toward the cabin.

I turn back to look at him once more before I go inside. I feel warm and happy for the first time in a while and Alexandra does not miss my happy smile. I think she knows that something has changed in my relationship with Uncas even if she doesn't know what it is. I do not even know what it is, but whatever name you want to give it, it is still wonderful.

I do not know then that another letter is on its way from my father, a letter that will threaten this new feeling of joy to its very core. I go to sleep that night with the feeling of his lips on mine and no clue about the darkness that is about to knock upon my door.

Authors note:

(As you all can see I took care of the 'Jack as a rival' question here. He was never a very serious rival, more of a distraction and It was time to lay that plot devise to rest. He's not disappearing from the story but he's not going to be trying to court Alice anymore either.

Alice is being cagey and frustrating with her own feelings right now, it's a bitch to get her to admit she has feelings for Uncas XD I don't know why this version of her that I'm writing is so obstinate but for some reason she is. At least she wasn't like 'No Uncas, no marriage for you either.' She just keeps avoiding the damn question.

I can't promise updates over the weekend for this, it really depends on how much time I have. The next chapter will probably be pretty involved and be leading toward a REALLY uncomfortable for scene for me to write. Shits about to get real XD (don't you love my not so subtle yet cagey hints?)

Anyway, thanks for reading guys! Enjoy!)


	11. Chapter 11-Ultimatums

I receive the letter my father implied he was going to send me in his letter to John but it says nothing different from what I have already read. The only difference between this letter and the other is that he doesn't even try to spare my feelings. I disregard the letter as I have already mailed a response and burn the accursed thing in the fireplace.

It is not _that_ letter that I needed to fear anyway, it was the one that would arrive in a few weeks' time. Those weeks before everything changed were the most blissful of my entire life. They were spent either apprenticing with Marcus and working with the town horses or traveling to the Lenape Camp with Uncas.

We were wicked in those few blissful weeks, I must admit. We stoles kisses in the forest like love struck children. When he came to 'help out' at the farm it was not unusual for him to pull me into the barn or behind the henhouse for a few not so chaste kisses.

Even when Uncas returned me to the cabin after a trip to the Summer Camp and it was time to say goodbye, he would pull me back into the woods for one more kiss. It was _always _one more with us. One more embrace, one more stolen moment, and I am not even ashamed to admit that it was more than a little heated. We walked the line between modesty and intimacy on a daily basis. Uncas stirred my blood in a way I cannot describe.

I think I was naive enough to believe that my father couldn't stop me, that I could have this one thing that was mine and mine alone. I was wrong, I was so very wrong. The letter arrived by courier several weeks after I had sent my response. Uncas heard Alexandra ask the children where I was when it arrived. I was, in fact, wrapped in a very intimate embrace with him in the hayloft at the time.

"She's looking you," he signs to me, "don't go yet!" His smile is teasing as he pulls me in for another 'one more kiss'. I giggle and capture his lips before his expression tells me that she is still searching for me. I give a little sigh and stand, brushing myself off and pulling straw from my hair. He tries to grab my hand and pull me back but I swat him away playfully and climb down the ladder.

We have not taken out little tryst past stolen kisses, Uncas is a perfect gentlemen, but I can't say I would have minded if he wasn't. Cora would say I am wicked to think like this but I do not care. For the first time in my life, I think I am truly happy. I come out of the barn into the sunlight and Lucy points in my direction. Alexandra turns and sees me then walks over and hands me a letter with my father's seal on it.

"This just arrived." she signs to me, she looks anxious and I can't say I blame her. I am anxious as well. My last letter to my father had been a truly, angry, disobedient one and whatever he had written back to me could very well temper whatever decision I would make about my future. I was mostly set on leaving with Uncas in the fall, though not yet prepared to share a _wigwam _with him. I was raised in the catholic faith and some habits are hard to let go of.

"Thank you." I sign back to her. "I will read this is the cabin I think."

Alexandra nods and goes back to her children. I carry the letter to the cabin and shut the door behind me. I carry the letter to the table and sit down. For a long time I simply stare at it. I stare at it as if it will _magically_ start speaking to me and I will _magically_ be able to hear it. I wonder what will happen if I do not open it. What if I go back to Uncas in the hayloft and pretend it never arrived?

I know I cannot do that. I wrote my father that angry response for a reason so I might as well see is I am fully disowned now. With slightly shaking fingers I break the family seal on the back of the envelope and pull out the stiff parchment my father prefers for his stationary. I lay the first page down in front of me and, hesitating, begin to read.

_Alice,_

He has begun with only my first name. No 'dear' or' my daughter', this does not bode well.

_I will hear no more nonsense about Lady Corwin's son or any 'perceived attack' you claim he has made upon your person. Need I remind you, daughter, that when I agreed to let you make the journey to the Colonies, it was under the condition that you would continue to move through and associate with the Aristocracy? Instead I receive reports of you gallivanting around town with Savages and conducting yourself in ways unbefitting a young lady of your station._

I am shaking with anger before I am even done with the first page. 'Perceived attack,' 'Gallivanting around town with savages,' 'Conducting myself in a way unbefitting a lady', these are Lady Corwin's words to be sure! I grit my teeth and force myself to continue.

_I have reached the end of my tether with your willful foolishness. I offer you one very simple choice, Alice. It is this; you will resume your visits with Lady Corwin. You will be demure, well mannered, and modest in all ways. I have informed her of my desire for you to make a good match. As you, apparently, do not have the good sense to accept the only offer of marriage likely to be made to you, the virtue of choice will now be removed from your hands._

I go cold reading these words. I do not like where this letter is going and I am afraid to read the final page. I force myself to do so, I make myself turn to the next stiff leaf of parchment and continue.

_If you choose not to do as I ask in this then you leave me with no other recourse. I will have you removed from the Cameron's keeping to the house of the good Lady Corwin, where you will be forced to act as you have been raised. Your choices while in the Colonies have proven to me what I have always feared; that the fever you had as an infant affected more than your hearing._

Bitter tears rise in my throat and I swallow them. In less than a paragraph he has called me feebleminded and no more intelligent than a child. I sniff back any tears that might fall and read the remaining words on the page.

_I expect you to behave in a manner befitting of a young lady of your station. If I am told of your absence at any more events I have commanded you to attend, I will do just as I have threatened and you will find yourself forcefully corralled. The choice, my child, is yours._

_Your loving father,_

_Edmund Munro_

I stare at the letters numbly and my fingers flex of their own volition on the table. I cannot believe what I have just read. In one fell swoop he has told me that I am incapable of making decisions for myself and would be better off in a house where I would face rape and abuse at the hands of the 'Good Lady's' son.

Well, little does my father know that he has just made my decision very easy; I decide in that moment that I _will_ leave with the Lenape at the end of the month, because there is no way I will subject myself to Lady Corwin and her son for my father's reputation.

I tell the Cameron's my intentions that very night, even before I tell Uncas. Alexandra and John are unsurprised by this, I think they have been waiting for me to make the decision they knew I would make. I can tell they worry for us, I can see it in their faces, but they do not want to have to turn me over to Lady Corwin either. Leaving with Uncas for the camp is my only recourse and one I am happy to take.

Uncas is happier than I have ever seen him when I tell him that I will go with him to the Lenape Winter Camp. He is so happy that he spins me around, kissing me over and over. I laugh, fueled by his joy, and return his kisses as we make plans for the journey, discuss what I will need, what I should leave behind. It seems that I have given him a great gift by agreeing to accompany him and I am pleased to see him so happy.

The week before we are due to leave I receive a note from Lady Corwin's household. I am just emerging from the barn with a pail of milk as the rider comes up the path, wearing her livery. Alexandra walks over to meet him and he hands her a note, says something to her before riding off. Alexandra walks toward me with the note, her eyebrows raised in confusion.

"He says this is for you." she mouths to me as she hands out the letter. I set down the pail and take the note with my own look of confusion. Lady Corwin never sends me personal letters nor I to her. What could she possibly want from me now? I open the letter and shield my eyes from the sun as I begin to read.

_Alice,_

_I am writing you this letter to inform you that your sister has arrived at my residence and has requested your presence. She seems very determined to see you and was adamant that I send for you right away. Please come as quickly as you are able, she says it is quite urgent._

_Hoping you are well,_

_Lady Isadora Corwin_

I blink and start as I read this, Cora is in the colonies, and at Lady Corwin's residence to boot? She did not inform me that she would be coming; did my father know she was here? Alexandra sees my look of bafflement and takes the note from my hand, reading it. When she looks back at me, her face is just as surprised as mine.

"Did she tell you she was coming?" Alexandra signs to me. I shake my head no. Alexandra looks at the note one more time and then back to me, frowning.

"What do you want to do?" she asks, signing to me quickly.

"I…," I still in my gestures for a moment, still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that my sister was in the New World "I..suppose I should see her." I finish lamely.

"But what about William?" she signs back. "You can't trust he won't be there?"

"With my sister nearby it would be stupid of him to try anything." I reason, though I agree with her. I have little desire to return to Lady Corwin's residence but the note said that it was _imperative_ that Cora see me. What has happened? Was father ill, has Duncan accompanied her? There were so many questions.

Alexandra goes out into the field to retrieve John and returns with both him, Uncas, Nathanial, and their father. They had been working on a fence that needed mending and all of them share the same worried expression as they approach.

"I don't think you should go." Uncas signs to me urgently once we are behind the closed doors of the cabin. "I don't trust this, Rabbit."

"She's my sister, Fox." I sign back. "She came all this way with something important to tell me, I can't just ignore that."

"We cannot protect you when you are behind a locked door." Nathanial mouths to me. "How do you know your sister is really there?"

"Lady Corwin might be rude but I doubt she would draw me there under false pretenses" I sign back. "Besides, my father is of a higher station than her and her husband, it wouldn't do her any favors to harm me."

"I don't like this, Rabbit." Uncas signs to me tensely. "I don't like you going into a situation where I can't get to you if things take a turn for the worst."

"Nor do I," John's lips say. "Nor do any of us but the fact remains that Alice's sister is summoning her. She's right, she can't just ignore it."

They grudgingly agree to take me into town to see my sister but Nathanial, Uncas and John are adamant that they stay outside Lady Corwin's house in case there is trouble. They all know there is no chance she will let them inside so the only choice they have to watch outside for William and his friends. When my meeting with Cora is finished they will shuffle me back into the wagon and remove me from the town as quickly as possible.

This plan is in no way satisfying to any of us but it is the best option we have. The men are shooed from the house and I am scrubbed until I gleam, tightened into my stays and corset, and stuffed into one of the more fancy and uncomfortable dresses that I own. Alexandra does her best to pile my hair atop my head and curl it but when that fails, she settles for intricate braids instead.

"Are you certain about this, Alice?" Alexandra signs to me before we open the door to leave.

"No, I am not certain about this at all." I sign back. "But I must see my sister, if for no other reason than to tell her goodbye."

We pause for a moment and holding our breaths, united by fear and uncertainty. Then I straighten my spine and open the door. Feeling as uncertain as I have ever felt in my life, I step out onto the porch.

The ride into town is completely uneventful, as is the ride to the good Lady's residence. It is nearing evening, as it took us quite a while to talk out whether or not I should even respond to the note let alone the time it took to get me ready. The sky is turning purple with the coming of twilight.

Uncas catches my hand before I walk away from the wagon; his eyes are worried and dark as they stare back into mine. I try to be reassuring with my gaze and let him know that I will be all right. Then he releases me and I turn to cross the street to the large town house.

I knock on the door with the heavy brass knocker and a dark servant girl opens the door. I hand her the note from Lady Corwin and she shuts the door, presumably to take the note to someone who can read it. After a few minutes, the door opens again and Lady Corwin ushers me inside.

"Oh, Alice," she says hurriedly as she shuts the door behind me and leads me to the sitting room where he son had attacked me "I'm so glad you are here. Your sister is in an absolute fright!"

"Why? What has happened?" I sign. Lady Corwin ignores my gestures and leads me to a small fainting couch, making me sit.

"She arrived this morning, completely unannounced." the woman continues as she walks over to close the shutters on the window and draw the curtains. Lady Corwin appears agitated, in constant motion, what has her so riled up?

"She was absolutely _insistent_ that I summon you." she says when she finally turns back to me.

"Where is she?" I sign anxiously.

Lady Corwin nervously smooth's her dress and then gives me a tight smile and a nod.

"I'm sure you're anxious to see her so I will let her know you have arrived." her lips say to me. With no more preamble, Lady Corwin walks to the study door, pulls it open and then shuts it behind her sensibly. I am left alone in the sitting room, feeling even more confused than when I received her letter.

Why is Cora here? Why did she not tell me she was coming? All of this felt so odd and yet I couldn't deny that Cora _would _come without my father's permission if she felt it was necessary. I bit the ball of my thumb nervously as I wait, for what feels like forever, for my sister to arrive.

When the door finally opens I look up and expect to see her skirt come whisking around the corner. I expect her to fly across the room and wrap me in her arms as she always does when we have been separated for any length of time. I want to tell her about Uncas, I want to tell her that I have found someone who loves me for who I am. I look up, smiling as a figure steps through the door.

The smile freezes on my face as three individuals step into the room, and none of them are Cora. The smile falls from my face and is replaced by a look of fear as the door is shut and locked behind them. I jump up from the chair as William smiles at me smugly, as Andrew pockets the key and Drake laughs at my frightened expression.

"Hello again, Horse girl," Williams lips sneer at me "Its time you and I concluded our business."

Authors note:

(Oh god, here comes the uncomfortable scene. I hate to leave you guys with such a cliffhanger AGAIN but I need to think about the next section before I write it. I wrote and rewrote _this _section until it made sense. Originally, I was going to have Alice attend a big party where the next scene was going to happen but every time I tried to write it I had the same problem.

That problem was the voice in my head that kept saying 'Why would she go? She's not stupid, she hates those parties, and no one can MAKE her go. If she's going to leave anyway, why would she bother being obedient for one trifling party'

Then, I thought about having Alice be summoned for one more tea and then the next bit occurs but it was the same problem, why would she go? Then I came up with what you just read. The only way she was going back to that house of her own volition was if she thought her sister was there.

So, now comes the dark, hard part of my story. Again, I'm sorry that I'm leaving you in suspense but I need the next bit to be well thought out before I post it. Thanks for all the reviews, you guys are awesome!)


	12. Chapter 12-Knocking on Darkness' Door

I grab the chair I was sitting on and haul it up in front of me like a weapon, holding it legs out as if it can protect me from three able bodied men. They laugh at this, grinning at each other as though I am funny. I back up with the chair, glaring at them with bravery I do not feel. Andrew smiles at me smugly.

"So she has some fight in her," his lips comment to William, "been awhile since we had one with some fire in her. This should be fun."

I glance at the shuttered windows and the locked door and find that I am well and truly trapped. Even if I throw the chair through a window and manage to break it, I would never be able to climb out before they grabbed me. Even if I make enough noise to alert the men outside, the door is still locked. Probably the front and back door too. I am trapped and at their mercy.

"Where is my sister?" I sign as much as I can one handed. Drake laughs at this and William looks at me as though I am stupid.

"Wondering about the letter, Savage lover? William's lips query. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you but she's not here. She's probably nice and cozy back in England, reading a book or having tea. Too bad for you, the letter was a ruse."

I glance at the windows again, trying to find a way to get over there, to alert Uncas, John, and Nathanial. I have no voice, I cannot yell. These men know this and are counting on it. William follows my line of sight and smiles derisively as he takes another step toward me. I back up again, my back hits the wall. There is truly nowhere else to go.

"Wondering how to alert the savage waiting outside?" William's lips ask me. "Well, don't you worry, Horse girl, he can have you back when we're done with you."

I throw the chair at him and it hits him hard in the stomach. As he doubles over I dart to the side, grabbing a heavy vase from a side table as I go. Drake lunges for me and I swing the vase at him, smashing it as hard as I can against his cheek. He stumbles and I scramble under his arm for the window, trying to rattle the shutters and pull them open, beating on them with the vase.

Arms come around me from behind and I am thrown bodily to the floor, I land awkwardly and pain explodes in my shoulder. It radiates up my jaw and neck, ringing in my head like church bells. A kick connects in my ribs and I gasp, trying to pull in air as I try to roll away from the attacking foot. Another kick connects with my stomach from the other side and third with my chest until I can hardly breathe. They kick me repeatedly, over and over and I throw my arms up to protect my head. Finally, the kicking stops and rough arms roll me over pinning my injured shoulder painfully to the floor.

Andrew is on my left and Drake is on my right, they are grinning down into my pain filled face as my lungs burn with the lack of oxygen. My ribs are on fire as Drake appears above me, fiddling with the front of his trousers and smiling at me with disgust. Mustering my strength, I kick out a foot and it connects solidly with his shin. I see his face contort with pain as he grabs the limb, wincing.

I don't waste time, I whip my face toward the arm nearest to my head and I bite the soft flesh until I taste blood. My injured shoulder is released but my head explodes in pain as a fist connects with my temple from the opposite side. Hands suddenly grab my head as the world spins and I am staring up into the fury twisted features of William.

"You think you can hurt me and get away with it!" his lips appear to be shrieking at me. He slams my head against the floor hard. Pain floods down the back of my neck and radiates around to my ears. Gray spots appear in my field of vision next to his face.

"You think you can humiliate me and get away with it!" I see his lips form these words before he slams my head down again. I gasp, screaming silently as nausea begins in the pit of my stomach. The gray spots are filling my vision like mist.

"You think you can fight me!" his lips snarl. He slams my head against the floor a third time and black floods my vision. I have just a moment to take in his rage filled eyes above me before I lose my hold on consciousness and fade into the welcoming arms of oblivion.

**Uncas:**

I am staring at the town house with growing alarm. Alice has not be in there very long but the reality of not being able to get to her if something bad happens is weighing on my mind heavily. I don't trust the note from Lady Corwin claiming Alice's sister has just arrived, it's too convenient. What could be so important that she had to sail all the way to Albany to speak with her sister, they'd done well enough with letters up until now.

No, I don't like it, any of it, and the longer she stays in that house with its shuttered windows and locked doors, the more my anxiety grows. I see Nathanial glance over at me from the corner of my eye. He is sitting in the wagon, with one hand wrapped around his long rifle. He lays a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"She's only been in there for about ten minutes, Uncas." my brother reminds me. "You don't have to stare like you're ready to charge in there with a loaded musket.

That's just it; I _was_ prepared to do just that. My nerves are on edge. I feel like something bad is about to happen in that house, that it might be happening already, and I am sitting out here like a bump on a log, doing nothing.

"She shouldn't be in there alone." I answered tightly, my eyes never leaving the front door. "I shouldn't have let her go in alone."

"They wouldn't have let you in, brother," Nathanial reminds me. "And forcing your way in would have gotten you thrown in shackles."

"She still shouldn't be in there alone." I repeat firmly. I know his words are true and reasonable but I cannot accept them. I should never have agreed to let her do this.

Nathanial sighs and turns his attention back to the house. As time ticks away, my alarm grows more and more palpable. Something is not right. She should have come out by now, she should have let me know what was happening. I set my jaw and prepare to stride to the front door and _make_ them let me in when a figure suddenly appears from the side of the house.

I, john, and Nathanial all see her at the same time. We watch, curious, as a girl in a hood makes her way across the street towards us. She walks silently, head down, we can't see her face. Once she is in front of me, she pulls the hood down and glances up.

She has the most haunted pair of brown eyes I have ever seen in my life. The girl staring back at me is smoke colored, with long black hair that peeks out from the cap she wears on her head. She is a servant, apparently heading home from her shift in the Lady's house. She studies each of our faces silently before holding out her hand, which has something small clasped in it.

"Take it." she commands quietly. "It will get you into the study. I've left the kitchen door unlocked."

"Take what, who are you?" I ask suspiciously. Whoever she is, she has no reason to be here, she has no reason to be offering us anything. The girl pulls her mouth into a hard line and presses the object against my chest forcefully. I bring up my hands to catch it before it falls and find that she has given me a small brass key.

"Go now, before they do to her what they did to me." she hisses. She turns to flee and I reach out to grab her wrist before she can. Her eyes, when they meet mine are frightened

"What are you talking about, who is in the study?" I asked the question though I am fairly certain I already know the answer. My blood is running cold; it is rushing in my ears so loudly that I can hardly hear her response. I want to race into that house right this moment. I want to forget caution and storm the accursed place until I have Alice safely in the wagon behind me. I cannot rush in with no plan, no idea of what we will be dealing with, that would be akin to suicide. She pulls her wrist from mine and points at the house with an urgent finger.

"If you do not get in there now, they will kill her. Do you understand me?" she exclaims. "I don't know what was in that note your girl brought with her but I can tell you this, there is no one she wants to see waiting for her in that house!"

I don't need her to tell me anymore. I race for the side of the house; I hear Nathanial and John bringing up the rear behind me. I sneak into the kitchen as quietly as I can, even though the anger boiling my blood would have me race through the house like a mad man. Nathanial is just as quiet behind me, and John keeps watch out the back.

In the main hallways I can hear muffled voices coming from behind a door next the main entrance. We pad up to it silently and I stick the key in the lock as quietly as I can. I turn the key and am pleased to say it doesn't make the audible click I am expecting. Nathanial comes up behind me, rifle at the ready and John comes up on my other side with his own gun. They nod and I silently push in the door.

I cannot describe exactly what I see as we moved silently into the room because as soon as I catch sight of Alice lying prone on the floor with two men holding her down and the third..; well let's just say I saw black. I let out a war yell that at first, I think is coming from Nathanial. I pull a knife from my belt as one of the men comes at us from the left. I don't even know if I catch him with a killing blow.

All I know is that he goes down with a grimace of pain contorting his face. Another one of the men attacks and I manage to down him with a well-timed punch to the kidney as I dodge his fist, which is aiming blindly for my temple. Then there is just William and him I pull him up by the back of his shirt and toss him across the room.

I dive onto him like a wild animal and beat him with my fists. I beat him until the blood runs from his nose and mouth, until his eyes roll around in his skull. I know I would have killed him right there if my brothers voice hadn't broken through the haze of anger clouding my brain.

"Uncas!" he shouts urgently. I ignore him, hitting the man again.

"Uncas!" Nathanial shouts again. Again, I ignore him.

"Dammit Uncas, stop!" he shouts at me. I glare into the bloodied face of William one more time before turning to see what the hell Nathanial wants that's more important than beating William into a pulp. Nathanial is kneeling next to Alice, who is still lying prone, across the room from me. I drop William like he is a hot stone and race to my brother's side, kneeling next to Alice and trying to gently rouse her.

Her eyelids flutter and her breathing is rapid and irregular. Her blonde hair is matted with fresh blood and there is a small smear of it on the floor under her head. I pat her cheeks gently, speaking to her quietly in Mohican. I know she can't hear me but I feel a great need to fill the silence with _something_ so that I don't start screaming.

Slowly, ever so slowly, her eyes blink open and she stares blearily back at me. I watch her take in a sharp breath as she brings up a shaky hand. I watch, miserable with what I have inadvertently allowed to happen, as she signs 'sorry' to me.

I grab the hand that is trying to sign in one of mine, shushing her as Nathanial yells to John to get the constable. I don't even see him leave, my attention is locked on her face as she takes another halting breath and signs 'Stupid..was stupid' to me.

"No, Rabbit." I say to her, shaking my head. "no, I shouldn't have let you come in here. This is my fault, not yours!"

I see two tears roll down her cheeks at my words and I'm filled with so much guilt I could scream with it. Her eyes are becoming glassy as she shakes her head, trying to disregard my words. Her breathing hitches and she swallows, gasping. I don't know how much damage they have managed to do to her before we got to her, I don't know how to make it better.

She swallows convulsively and pulls her hand out of mine. Slowly, fingers twitching, she signs ' I love…' and tries to point at me but loses consciousness before she can complete the motion. I catch her fingers as they fall and feel for her pulse with my free hand. It's there, it's not strong but it _is_ there. I pull her in against me, taking in her confession with my own sharp intake of breath. Suddenly, Lady Corwin comes skidding into the room.

"My son!" she screeches when she sees William lying bloodied in the corner. She rushes to kneel by him, pulling him into her arms and sobbing as she rocks him like a baby. "You filthy savage! " she spits my way. "I'll see you hanged if you've killed him."

"If anyone is going to be hanged here, it's him." Nathanial spits back at her. "And I'd be careful who you're calling a savage right now, Lady."

"You let them _brutalize_ her." I accuse harshly, tuning to glare at her. I have Alice cradled against my chest, I can feel her uneven breathing against my shirt. "You lured her here and locked her in with them. Why?"

"She's worthless to society." Lady Corwin snarls at me through her angry tears. "She's worthless to her father, she's disobedient and willful. She runs around with the likes of _you_, doing as she pleases. She deserves what she got."

"You arrogant, evil bitch!" I shout back at her, nearly jumping to my feet and fighting the urge to beat her as bloody as I have beaten her son. "Alice never did _anything_ to you, to any of you. You better hope she survives because her life is tied to your son's now."

"Uncas, she needs to be seen by a doctor." Nathanial says next to me, his voice is tight; he too is fighting for calm. I can hear the sound of voices approaching outside, it sounds like John has returned with the constable. I look down into Alice unconscious face and steel my rage into a new resolve. I'm not going to let her die, not here and not this night.

I climb to my feet with Alice still clutched close to my chest. She is limp against me, like a rag doll. I carry her toward the front door that is opening and step to the side as the constable comes up short. Looking first at Alice where she lays in my arms and then to Lady Corwin, who clutches her son against her, and finally to the other two unconscious men.

"He attacked my son!" Lady Corwin accuses, turning angry, hate filled eye on me.

The constable looks over the scene and straightens his spine, glaring at her.

"I'd hazard a guess your son deserved every bit of it." the man responds darkly. The three men lying unconscious in the sitting room had been a thorn in his side for far too long. I doubt he'll need much convincing on what _really_ happened.

"Hope you enjoy her, Savage." I hear William's voice whisper, even from across the room. "Hope you enjoy your _whore._"

Silently, I hand Alice over to Nathanial, who curses as he takes her weight and calls my name, afraid I really _will_ kill him this time. I silently stomp my way over and crouch down next to Lady Corwin and William. She tries to hit me and I shoot her a look that makes stop up short. Whatever she sees in my face makes her lower her gaze with an angry sob. She begins crooning over her son instead. I turn my livid glare down into William's arrogant, spiteful face.

"You better hope she survives," I repeat for him alone this time, my face is a barely contained mask of fury "because you won't live one second longer than she does."

I enjoy the satisfaction of seeing real fear cross his features for a few seconds before I get up and stride quickly back across the room to my brother. I quietly retrieve Alice from his arms and walk out with her to John's wagon. We ride in silence the entire short distance to Dr. Phelps clinic, all our hearts heavy with what has just occurred. I hold Alice against me and silently promise her that if her world can't find justice for what has just happened then _mine_ will.

Authors note:

(Oh god, you guys, this chapter! I have fought with this chapter from day one. I do not enjoy writing rape scenes and, as you can see, I have avoided any real description on the subject. I almost didn't write that part happening at all but the more I tried to avoid it, the more it altered the next few chapters so I was somewhat forced to keep it. I know that nobody wanted to see this happen, I'm sorry! I tried to make it more bearable by having Uncas beat the tar out of William. XD

This scene was originally intended to be much more involved in terms of what happened after the beating/rape. They were going to cart her off to the red light district and leave her for dead with the intent to pin her death on Uncas (obviously she would live but still) and then she was gonna wander blindly back into town and …yeah, it was silly and I scrapped it. Things sometimes sound like interesting narrative prospects in my head until I really think about them and realize they're actually very stupid.

It was the same problem I had with getting her to the house. One, having someone cart her out of the house, with three men watching outside, makes them look like the most incompetent body guards on the planet. XD

Two, If they actually manage to cart her away to the red light district without being seen…well it the same problem. So I came up with the idea of the servant who's like 'Hell no, here's a key to get in'. I'm happier with what I wrote here than what I intended to write originally.

Hopefully I haven't lost all my readers with this scene. Again, I really fought with myself on this section. Thanks for all the reviews yesterday and today and there should be more tomorrow.)


	13. Chapter 13-Agony

Dr. Phelps discovers that Alice has three cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a myriad of bruises and contusions, and what he fears might be a bad concussion. He tries everything he could to rouse her but nothing seems to work; not smelling salts, not loud noises, not even a sharp slap to the face which Nathanial has to administer because I can't bring myself to do it.

"We don't typically want a person with a concussion to sleep," Dr. Phelps explains to us as I stare down at her pale, sleeping face "and if they do, they need to be awoken frequently. I cannot rouse her and that could be problematic."

"Problematic how?" I ask tightly. I cannot take my eyes off her face, off the dark circles under her eyes, or the bandage circling her head moonlike hair. I can't make myself look away from what they did to her.

"She sustained more than one blow to the head," Dr. Phelps continues "without being able to ask her specific questions or look for certain symptoms, I have no way of knowing if there's bleeding on the brain."

"If there is?" I follow, swallowing on my quickly drying throat.

"Then it is possible that she will not wake up." Dr. Phelps answers quietly.

I turn and walk past them out into the hall and silently go down the stairs. I calmly open the door that leads into the back ally and once it is shut behind me, I pound on the wall with my fist. I do not scream; I do not make any sound aside from the thumping of my fist against the wood and the occasional grunt of pain. I do this until my knuckles are bleeding and then, slowly, I slide down until I am sitting with my back against the wall.

I can still see her eyes looking at me as she signs an apology to _me_ for what happened. I can still see her eyes as she tries to sign that she loves _me_ before…I can't even finish the thought. After everything she had been through she blamed herself and tried to comfort me. It was too much; all of it, especially when we told the doctor what little we knew about what happened and his examination confirmed the rest.

"There is significant bruising on her inner thighs," the doctor's voice is echoing in my head "you will have to be vigilant for sign of pregnancy if she recovers."

I grab the back of my head in frustrated anger and fight the urge to run to the jail and kill them, all of them. Nathanial had to hold me back after the doctor told us this, he had to forcefully keep me from doing what I was trying _not_ to do right now. I feel angry tears on my cheeks and I angrily brush them away. I am a man, a warrior, and we do not cry like children. Instead, I force my anger into a tight ball of vengeance and promise myself that if she doesn't wake up, I will follow through on my threat to William, whether their justice works in Alice's favor or not. Because if she dies, I will have very little left to live for and dying would be a relief.

Once I have myself as under control as I am going to get, I go back inside. Alexandra is sitting with Alice when I walk in. Nathanial is across the room, thinking about something very intently and I see Jack Winthrop has arrived while I was outside taking my anger out on the siding. He is pacing the room, looking like a storm cloud, arguing with himself.

"They can't possibly let them off after something like this." he is muttering to himself. "Not when the attack was made on one of their own."

I walk over to Alexandra and take the rag from her hands that she has been using to dab some blood away from Alice's head. Nearby are fresh bandages and some ointment in a jar. Gently I nudge her aside and take over. If I cannot make Alice wake up, then at the very least I can let her know I am here.

"Uncas what happened to your knuckles?" Alexandra asks worriedly when she sees my hand.

"Nothing, I'm fine." I answer quietly.

"You're bleeding." she says worriedly, instantly reaching out to take my hand in hers. "You should let Dr. Phelps look at that."

"No." I answer, pulling my hand away. I turn back Alice.

"Uncas-" she starts to argue.

"No." I interrupt, my voice becoming loud and forceful, even to my own ears. "I let this happen to her. I let them do this to her."

"Uncas, you couldn't have known-" Jack tries to argue but I shoot him an angry glare.

"I let her go in there alone, Jack Winthrop, so don't tell me I'm not partially responsible for this." I shout. Alexandra takes a step back in surprise, she's never heard me raise my voice let alone shout at anyone before. Nathanial is studying me closely from across the room.

"This." I say holding up my hand. "This is nothing_, nothing_, compared to what they did to her. So let me have whatever pain it causes me, Alexandra, because I deserve to feel it."

I go back to cleaning her head wound and everyone stares at me as if I have lost my mind. Maybe I have, I don't care anymore. The only thing I care about right now is lying in front of me; the rest of the world can go away for all I care.

The others filter out of the room slowly, probably ill at ease in my company. I can't blame them; I'm not exactly feeling fair or reasonable at the moment. Not to myself and not to anyone who would seek to reassure me. I think Nathanial knows this and once the others are out of the room, he lays a hand on my shoulder.

"You know she wouldn't blame you for this," he says to me softly. "Let the ones who did it own this. Stop blaming yourself."

I don't answer and finally Nathanial leaves the room. I barely budge from her side over the next three days. There is very little I can do. In fact I'm sure I get in the way more than I help, but Dr. Phelps doesn't try to remove me. I sit by Alice bedside during the waking hours and sleep on the floor at night. I talk to her, even though I know she can't hear me. I talk to her in Mohican, English, and sometimes I don't even speak out loud. Sometimes I sign against her palm or her arm, anything to try to get her to come back to me.

I make promises, I beg, but nothing seems to make her eyelids so much as flutter. On the third day I am beginning to lose hope that she will wake up at all. It is also on the third day that Jack Winthrop comes storming into the clinic in a rage, his face infuriated.

"They are going to let them off!" he rages as he kicks a chair across the room.

"What do you mean 'they're going to let them off'?" John counters, incredulous. I look up from changing the bandage on Alice's head and Nathanial straightens from his place by the window.

"Their lawyers are claiming lack of evidence." Jack reveals angrily.

"Lack of evidence?" Nathanial repeats. "They have the servant girl's testimony and the doctor's report. They have _our _testimony."

"Oh, like the word of a _servant_, a couple _savages_, and a poor _frontiersman_ are going to be good enough for the aristocracy." he spits out before adding a 'No offense' tightly. "They're trying to throw it all out because Alice can't testify in this condition."

I feel my blood running cold at Jack's revelation, at the complete disregard her own people seem to have for her. Did they seriously plan to turn those monsters back out into society, after everything they had done. Would they really put Lady Corwin back out into high society after she had lured Alice to her home with the intent to let her own son rape the girl.

"What about the note she sent Alice to lure her there?" I ask. Jack makes a disgusted face and throws his hands in the air.

"Guess what conveniently vanished?" He answers vehemently.

I look back at Alice's face and I cannot abide what I am hearing. Lack of evidence? The evidence was right here in front of me. Every bruise, every contusion was evidence. If they wouldn't listen to our word, and they wouldn't listen to the serving girl's word, what would they listen to? Then an idea occurs to me. Alice cannot testify because she is unconscious and cannot tell the court what happened but, perhaps, she doesn't have to _tell_ them anything at all.

I stand up from the side of the bed and pull back the covers. Hooking one arm under her legs and the other behind her shoulder blades, I lift Alice bodily from the bed and carry her toward the door.

"Uncas, where are you going with her?" John calls after me. I push the door open with my foot and turn back to look at them as I turn to take her into the hallway.

"If their issue is lack of evidence and testimony then I'll bring them some. She _is_ the testimony!" I tell them simply. Nathanial, Jack, and John run down the hall after me.

"You can't just walk into the courthouse with her." John is arguing.

"Watch me." I respond firmly.

They follow me as I carry her down the stairs, trying to reason with me about this. I ignore them. No, if evidence is what the courts want them evidence is what they will get. I run into Dr. Phelps at the bottom of the stairs and he stares in shock at the sight of me with his patient in my arms.

"Where do you think you are going with her?" he demands tersely.

"The courts want to throw out her case on lack of evidence." I tell him quickly. "I doubt they'll be so eager to do so when they see what those bastards did to her."

Dr. Phelps studies my face and eyes and seems to realize the only way he's getting his patient back is if he lets me do this. He was as horrified as I was when we brought her in and he has little desire to see the perpetrators go free. After a moment he steps aside and gives me a curt nod.

"Try not to jostle her too much and bring her straight back." he commands firmly. I thank him with my eyes as I move past him, using my foot to get the front door open. I am just striding down the front steps when Jack Winthrop steps around and in front of me.

"I'm coming with you." he says firmly.

"This isn't your fight, jack." I respond, adjusting her weight so that her head is resting against my neck. Jack folds his arms as she stares steadily back at m.

"Uncas, they won't let you in the courthouse or listen to anything you have to say. I know it's prejudiced but, if you let me do the talking, I think they'll hear us out."

"I would listen to him, little brother." Nathanial says as he too steps up next to Jack. "I know you love her and you want justice for this, but you're still a savage in their eyes. Jack is at least well respected; they can't ignore him as they can you or I."

I look between them and realize that they do make a good point. I could carry her all the way to the courthouse and scream myself blue and they would probably still let them go. Jack knew how to talk to these people; he was better at public speaking than anyone I knew and would probably be more eloquent than I would be.

Finally I sigh and nod. Jack nods back and then goes to get his wagon as Nathanial and I wait outside the clinic.

"You would have done it, wouldn't you?" Nathanial asks me as we wait. I glance over at him questioningly. "You would have just walked right in there and put her in front of them, wouldn't you?"

"I would have tried." I correct firmly. "Jack already pointed out that it wouldn't have worked."

"Still, that's pretty brazen for _you_. You're supposed to be the quiet one." his tone is teasing but his eyes are sad for me. He didn't want me to have to come out of my shell this way.

"Yeah, well, love changes things." I say back.

"So we're saying it out loud now?" Nathanial asks, giving me a knowing look. Jack is just pulling up with the wagon.

"Yeah," I answer quietly as they help me get her into the back of the wagon and arrange her as comfortably as we can on the hard surface "We're saying it out loud now."

I sit in the back with Alice, while Nathanial climbs up front with Jack. Jack slaps the reigns and the wagon is off, taking us down the dusty, busy streets to the courthouse. I stare down into Alice's still, quiet face and I take one of her hands into mine.

"I love you, Rabbit." I sign against the back of her hand, spelling the words and hoping she can sense them. 'Do you understand me?' I think at her. 'I love you.' She gives no response as we rush along but for the briefest of moments, I imagine I can see her lips lift in the barest hint of a smile.

Authors note:

(Well, I wanted to get you guys through the courthouse bit but I guess that will have to wait until tomorrow. Everything was against my getting this written today. The phone kept ringing, the baby woke up before I was done, and I had a massive headache while I was trying to write.

I struggled with whether or not I was going to make Uncas cry in that scene where he punches the siding. It's not like guys don't feel strong emotion, or even emotion that makes them weep, but it's not something they typically want witnessed. So I made him cry privately, it seemed like a good compromise. I don't know why, as a society, we look at males crying as a show of weakness but for some reason we do. I don't think he's showing weakness here, I think he's showing pain. It's the kind of pain you can barely abide so all you can do is weep with it.

Anyway, that's my rambling thought for the day. I'm glad I didn't piss anyone off too much with yesterday's chapter. I really did try to give the rape as little description as possible. And like I said, it's necessary for events that happen later. Thanks for feedback and reviews, it really helps me out!)


	14. Chapter 14-Your Skin is weeping

When we reach the courthouse, I lower Alice into my brother's arms just long enough to jump down from the back of the wagon. Once I am on my feet I take her from him and we follow Jack as he pushes open the courthouse doors and leads us into an eerily empty hallway.

I can hear muffled voices from down the hallway and it is toward these muffled voices that Jack takes us. Once we are outside the heavy oak doors that lead into the court chambers, he turns back to look at me.

"Once I open these doors, you're going to need to let me do most of the talking." he reminds me sternly. "If you lose your temper, make a spectacle of yourself, they're likely to shut down."

I set my jaw but manage to nod, I know he is right. It would only take one or two angry responses from me to make them throw out her case on principle alone. I would have to steel all of my rage to get through this. I told myself to focus on Rabbit, not on the men that hurt her. It was the only way I was going to get through this without murdering anyone.

"I know this is difficult," Jack says, his expression softening when he sees the anger boiling just beneath the surface "I know it's unfair. If you were a white man they'd probably listen but as it stands I'm going to have to be the one to speak for both of you. Will you let me do that…for her?"

I nod again and jack smiles before taking a deep breath. Then he and Nathanial push the heavy doors in and the assembled crowd turns to gawk at us. Jack walks in with more self-assurance than he has any right to feel and the fat Judge stammers in open mouthed horror at our intrusion.

"Mr. Winthrop," he stammers indignantly "this is highly irregular. You are interrupting a very important court proceeding."

I follow along behind Jack, slowly, quietly, looking straight ahead as the gathered Gentry point and whisper. I know their eyes are on Alice, whose head has fallen backwards and is hanging limply over my arm. I know her bruises are a bright purple blight against her moon pale skin and I hear gasps as the women of the Aristocracy take this in.

"I am aware of that, Judge Weelow," Jack projects so the people sitting higher up can hear him "these court proceedings are the very reason we are here."

"Unless you have something to offer that is relevant I suggest you leave this very minute." Judge Weelow hisses out through his fat lips. He squints over Jacks shoulder at me and, more specifically, what I carry in my arms. "What's the savage got there?"

"What _Uncas_ has in his arms there is evidence," Jack responds, emphasizing my name and I appreciate his efforts to make them see me as a person "the evidence, of the crime committed by the Lady Corwin and the three perpetrators, that you say you so _sorely_ lack."

Jack moves aside so I can carry Alice out into full view. I do so without saying a word and hold her in front of the room so they can take in every bruise, every mark on her skin, the bandage wrapped around her head and the dark circles under her eyes. I turn so the judge can see her and am satisfied to note that he looks stricken. When I feel our point has been made, I carry her to the table that it set up behind me for evidence. I lay Alice on it and step back, nodding to Jack to continue.

"This, Ladies and Gentleman, is Miss Alice Munro; youngest daughter of Colonel Munro of the British army." he reveals. I glance around the room to see aristocratic women speaking to one another frantically, noble men who look scandalized. Lady Corwin glares at us from her place by her lawyer. Her son doesn't look at us at all and his friends don't seem eager to look at their handiwork either.

"That's right," Jack continues, catching eyes when he can and holding them before moving on to the next pair "she's one of your own. Not a smoke colored shanty town girl, not a Huron squaw or even an Irish immigrant. She's a British woman of the upper nobility that those three _miscreants_ over there beat and raped with the help of the 'Good Lady'.

A general outcry goes up around the courthouse and Judge Weelow has to bang his gavel to maintain order. Lady Corwin is practically spitting with anger and it takes a sharp look from the judge to silence her.

"I would very much like to know why I was led to believe the victim was a.._ahem_.. 'Lady of the night'?" he asks Lady Corwin's Lawyer who looks over at Alice and begins to sweat.

My blood begins to boil at the insinuation that one, my Alice is no better than a prostitute and two, that it made one lick of difference either way. Nathanial walks up next to me and puts a retraining hand on my shoulder. He has seen that I am about to lose it, he has seen that I am ready to tear them apart with my bare hands.

"Easy, Little Brother," he whispers, "let Jack do his thing."

"Now this can go one of two ways." Jack tells the room perfunctorily, clapping his hands together loudly to draw their attention back to him.

"You can give these monsters the punishment they deserve. I'd say…about fifteen years apiece…one year for every girl they've brutalized, including Alice. I'd say do the same to the mother but, as you Brits don't like imprisoning women, I'd settle for house arrest or removal from Albany altogether." He offers and again a cry goes up around the room and the Judge once again bangs his gavel.

"You can do this and we all go back to our lives or…" he pauses for effect and waits to make sure they are listening "you can release them and do nothing… but I can promise you they will not live out the night."

"Are you making a personal threat, sir?" The Corwin's Lawyer demands; practically foaming at the mouth at the prospect of finally having someone to point a finger toward. Jack smiles at him and shakes his head, walking over to lay a hand on Alice's arm where it lays limply over her stomach.

"No, _I_ am not threatening anything. I am _telling_ you that the middle and lower classes of Albany will not let such a lapse in justice stand." Jack declares. I look at him, surprised; I'm not sure what he is getting at.

"This girl," Jack say, patting her arm affectionately "is well known and well liked amongst the working class of Albany. There are not many in the surrounding areas who do not know _who_ she is or what's been done to her. They _will_ take up arms against your young men there. They will drag them into the streets and hang them, and they will do so because they have had _enough_!"

Jack nearly shouts the word 'enough', he is angry now and the whole room can see it. He even has me hanging on his every word because I was not aware that anyone but other than our small circle gave a damn about Alice. Jack moves away from the table to face the room again and the room in turn looks at him, holding their breath, waiting for him to finish.

"They've had _enough_ of their daughters being victimized by these bastards, they've had _enough_ of it being shoved under a rug and ignored. They _will_ take justice into their own hands for this. The choice, Ladies and Gentleman, is yours."

He nods to me that he was nearly through and I take is as an indication that I should collect Alice. She makes the quietest of noises when I lift her from the table, almost a sigh. I study her face for signs she might be waking but whatever that sound was it is gone now. Her face is as quiet and still as it has been for the past three days. I carry her back toward the exit with Nathanial following behind. Jack brings up the rear and turns back to the still gawking crowd once he is at the doorway.

"What will her father and sister say when they learn what has been allowed to happen here?" Jack asks the room smugly. "I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when they find out." With that we leave the courthouse and I deposit Alice back in the wagon. When Jack and Nathanial emerge, Jack is grinning as though he has just won a prize.

"They can't possibly let them off now." he says with a satisfied smile as he climbs into the driver's seat. Nathanial hops up next to him and I climb in back, taking Alice's pulse and finding it is a little stronger than it has been.

"Was that true, what you said about the middle classes?" I ask him, I am studying Alice's features. Her eyes are moving under her eyelids as though she is dreaming. I hope this was a sign she is coming back to us at last.

"Oh it's more than true," he reassures as he slaps the horses reigns. "Your girl there is the 'darling' of the working class. They're appalled. Mark my words; if the court lets them go free…there'll be hell to pay."

I smile to myself a little when he calls her 'my girl', because that is what she was after all. We take her back to the clinic and I get a rather lengthy lecture from Alexandra for removing her from the doctor's watchful eye. She relents a bit when Dr. Phelps tells her that Alice is no worse for wear.

Alice doesn't show any more signs of waking that day and once night rolls around I am so tired that I fall asleep sitting next to her, with my head resting against the headboard. I don't know what it is, exactly, that brings me around but I think it's the slight twitching of her fingers where they are clasped in my hand. I start awake at this movement and look down to see her eyes moving very fast behind her eyelids.

"Rabbit," I say, leaning down to lay a hand against her face. She obviously can't hear me but she does seem to respond to the touch of my hand. Her eyebrows raise a bit and her lips part. I cup her cheek and give her face a gentle shake, trying to rouse her.

"Come back, Rabbit," I plead, resting my forehead against her. "I'm here, come back."

I stare at her face as her eyelids begin to flutter. I grasp her hand firmly and press my lips to her fingers.

"Come on, Alice," I say encouragingly. "I'm here, wake up."

And she does, slowly. Her blue eyes blink open and I let out a sound that is somewhere between a laugh and sob. Her eyes settle on my face and slowly her free hand comes up to touch the tears that I didn't even realize where on my face.

"Your skin is weeping." she signs tiredly. I smile and kiss her, she returns it wearily. When I pull back she stares at me oddly.

"I was lost," she signs almost dreamily. "I could feel you but I couldn't get back to you."

"You found me," I sign back, just happy that she awake and coherent. "I'm right here." She frowns, her eyes narrowing.

"Fox, what happened to me?" she signs, looking confused. "I remember the sitting room, being struck…but it's a blur…its hurts to try and remember." She winces and stops signing. I grasp her cheeks in my hands and try to smile at her reassuringly.

"Don't try to remember right now," I tell her reassuringly, she reads my lips and places one of her hands over mine. Her eyes stare back at me, lost and confused. I kiss her forehead.

"Something terrible happened, didn't it?" Alice signs, her blue eyes wide and clear as a prairie sky. I set my jaw and I think my eyes answer that question for her. I can't lie to her, even to spare her from her own memories. I see her swallow convulsively and tears swim into her eyes.

I gather her against me in the bed and hold her while she trembles with realizing that, even if she can't quite remember what it is, something important has been taken from her. I don't say anything, I simply hold her until the doctor comes in to check on her. I hold her while _he_ tells her what happened and I hold her while she cries.

We fall asleep like that in the clinic bed, with her pulled in tight against me and my arms wrapped protectively around her. I don't realize at that moment how big of a shadow had fallen over my Rabbit. I don't realize yet that I will have to build a den to protect her from her own memories and that the nightmare, for her, is not yet over.

Authors note:

(Whew! I think this was the one scene that I planned out and changed the least. The whole court room bit was something I came up with around the time I decided that Alice was gonna get raped. The original scene I wanted, way back when the rape happened during a ball, was for Uncas to walk into the party with her yelling "Who did this" but since I canned that scenario I just had him show her to the crowd in the courthouse.

I'm probably going to keep this on Uncas POV for the next chapter. Possibly the next two depending on how quickly I get Alice back to some semblance of normal. She's gonna be, how do I put this without giving anything away…a little traumatized for a while. So we'll get to see how Uncas deals with that.

I've got an idea for something that might happen in coming chapters but we'll see if I go with it, might be too much considering everything that already happened.

Anyway, that's my thoughts on this story.

Oh, another playlist song that makes me think of Alice and Uncas right now: 'Set fire to the third' bar by snow patrol. It's a song that usually reminds me of two characters from an original story I'm writing… but Kat and Kou-hei are a bit like Alice and Uncas in their own way so they can share the song with them.

Thanks for reading and reviewing guys, more tomorrow!")


	15. Chapter 15-Distance From Me to You

Dr. Phelps releases Alice to the Cameron's care the next day, once he has assessed that she has no further symptoms related to head trauma. I would have liked the have been the one to look after her but I felt at the time, falsely as I would realize later, that she needed to be with her people. This does not mean I disappeared from her life; I made trips to the farm daily to be with her, it just means that I thought she would recover more quickly with the Cameron's.

My first clue that this was a mistake happened a few days after they brought her home. I am helping John bring in the cattle when Lucy runs up to me. She tugs on my leggings with her little fingers, her child like face sullen and pouting.

"It's rabbit," She says in her still babyish voice, "she won't play."

I don't quite understand this. I think that perhaps Alice is tired and napping or simply too busy with whatever Alexandra has tasked her to do to play with the child.

"Well, she's still recovering, Lucy," I tell her as I kneel down to smile at her "I'll play with you if you like."

"She's playing dead." the little girl tells me folding her arms petulantly. "She won't talk anymore."

That gets my attention. I try to keep my face calm and my voice even so that I didn't alarm the little girl, though I feel anything but calm when I reach out to take her upper arms in my hands.

"What do you mean she won't talk anymore?" I counter. Lucy shuffles back and forth as young children do when they are not getting their way.

"She's just staring." The little girl mumbles. "Make her play, Uncas?"

I take Lucy's hand and calmly ask her to take me to where Alice is as I fight the urge to pick her up and sprint to wherever they were 'playing'. She leads me a little further down the path that leads away from the house and I see Alice sitting against a tree with her face pointed down the road, as though she is looking for someone. I feel relief for a moment because I half expected find her sprawled in the path unconscious after Lucy declared she was 'playing dead.' It's not until I kneel down next to her that I get a hint of what Lucy meant.

Alice is staring expectantly, though blankly down the path. Her hands rest palm up in her lap but do not move. Other than to blink, she doesn't move at all, and I become alarmed again when I put my face directly in front of hers and she does nothing. Her blue eyes are blank, empty. I grasp her face in my hand and give her a gentle shake.

"Alice!" I say, snapping my fingers in front of her face. "Alice!"

Finally she blinks several times and focuses on me, looking surprised. She must see the alarm in my features because her hands come up and begin to sign at me confusedly.

"Fox, where did you come from?" She sign and give me a wan smile. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You were staring at nothing." I speak and sign to her. "It took me a while to get you to respond."

"No," she signs back, eyebrows rising in confusion. "No, I was playing with Lucy, we were.." her hands halt and she narrows her eyes thinking. "We were…" she tries again, looking down and concentrating. Finally, it dawns on her that she can't remember exactly _what_ they were doing. When her eyes lift back to mine, she looks frightened.

"Is this what Dr. Phelps was afraid of?" her hands question.

"I don't know? Is this the first time it's happened?" I respond worriedly.

"As far as I know." she responds.

I take her and Lucy back to the house and explain to Alexandra what Lucy said, what Alice told me, and what I witnessed. She wastes no time and sends John to town for the doctor. Dr. Phelps examines Alice when he arrives but finds nothing at all wrong with her which I find both a relief and a frustration. If I knew what was causing her to 'go away' maybe I could fight it, as it was we had to regard it as left over trauma and try to ignore it.

That would have been simple enough if it had only happened once, but it soon began to happen more frequently. The 'spells' as Alexandra called them happened infrequently throughout the day and she could normally be called out of them if one of us refocused her, at least at first. As the days wore on that became difficult for anyone other than me, and if I arrived at the farm later in the day, Alexandra would often be in a panic because she couldn't pull Alice out of it.

The next alarming change was that Alice retreated into herself more. She became nervous, fidgety, reminding me of the wild horses that she was so good at taming. If she didn't see one of us coming and we startled her, she would fly into a corner with her hands over her head as if we were going to strike her. I had the unhappy occasion of startling her in the barn one afternoon and nearly got hit as she whirled around, tangled her feet in her skirts and nearly fell.

"It's me, Rabbit," I sign once I get her to calm down enough to focus. "It's me!"

She stills in trying to fight me off and presses a hand against her mouth. There are tears in her eyes.

"What's happening to me, Fox?" she signs back quickly.

I pull her in against me as she trembles and I don't know what to tell her. I don't have any answers; I don't know what effect the incident at Lady Corwin's has had on her mental state. Most of the time, she is just Alice, though an Alice that smiles and laughs less often than she used to. Other times, she appears to retreat, disappearing into her own head unless I am there to draw her out again.

The final change, the one that decides for me what I need to do, happens about a week later. I change up my routine to try and counteract Alice's 'spells.' I arrive early in the morning, usually with a few rabbits or a beaver, sometimes with deer meat if hunting goes well. Alexandra meets me outside to receive whatever I bring and she would fill me in on how Alice does when I am not there.

"How did she do last night?" I ask as I hand over the three fat beavers that I caught this morning. Alexandra takes them but she is frowning.

"Not well, she's taken to wandering." Alexandra answers worriedly.

"Wandering?" I repeat. Alexandra nods.

"The last three days she's been getting up at night, sleep walking." she explains. "At first it wasn't a problem, she only walked around the cabin but one night we found her in the barn loft and this morning…" She trails off.

"What happened this morning ?" I prompt.

"This morning we couldn't find her. We were frantic; we thought she might have been taken. John found her curled up by the creek. It took him a long time to rouse her, to get her to recognize him." She stops in her narrative and takes a breath. There are tears in her eyes. She is doing the best she can but it is obvious that she can't keep an eye on Alice all the time.

"Uncas, I don't know what to do. I wrote her sister about the attack but haven't received a response. Should we send for her?"

"Let me talk to her, is she inside?" I ask, not answering the question about the sister.

"Yes, at the table." she answers. I pat her shoulder reassuringly as I walk into the cabin and as she said, Alice is sitting at the table, staring at her hands where they were laying on the top. She glances up when I walk in and I walk over to kneel in front of her.

"Why were you by the creek, rabbit?" I sign.

"I don't know.." she signs back agitatedly. "I didn't _consciously_ go there. I..I have nightmares."

"What kind of nightmares?" I query.

She plays with her fingers in front of her, looking haunted and scared. After a moment she begins to sign again and her gestures are jerky and nervous.

"I don't remember them after I wake up," she confesses "All I know is that I'm _searching_ for something and I can't _find_ it."

I study her face for a moment and finally climb to my feet. She looks up at me questioningly, hoping I have some answer for whatever is plaguing her subconscious. I don't have an answer exactly but I do have a possible solution. Obviousl,y my thought that she needed to be with her own people was not working. She wasn't thriving, she wasn't recovering; she was fading a little at a time.

Our original plan, before Lady Corwin and her son went and ruined everything, was to go to the Lenape winter camp and, as it was, they were leaving in the morning. I had not pushed Rabbit on the issue because I felt that she needed time to recover and making her make that kind of decision after what she had been through felt unkind. Now, in lieu of what was happening, I made the decision for her.

"Gather the few things we talked about." I sign to her slowly. She tilts her head, not following.

"I'm taking you with me to the Lenape camp." I tell her then. "You're not thriving here; I think the complete change of surroundings might help."

She doesn't argue this with me; she simply nods and goes to do what I ask. I go outside to explain to Alexandra what is about to happen. I expect John's wife to argue with me, but surprisingly, she does not. She had not been an advocate for our relationship at the start but I think the changes in Alice demeanor frighten her. She senses that Alice is not improving in their household, and as such, is more willing to turn her over to my care than she would have been otherwise.

The children are not happy that Alice is leaving. Lucy, in particular, cries when she is told that Alice is leaving with me. She demands to go too, stomping her foot and glaring at us. Alice calms the little girl, promising we will return in the spring and thanks the Cameron's for everything.

Alexandra extracts a promise from _me _that I will not let any other untoward situations befall her again. I promise and I mean it. I do not intend for what happened at the Corwin sot _ever_ befall her again if I can help it. We leave with her few belongings and she does seem to lighten on the walk to the camp.

My father has been staying with the Lenape for a while now and he is more than a little surprised when I arrive with Alice. He knows what has happened, I told him a little and Nathanial filled him in on the rest. I think he believed that I would not pursue her further after she had been so brutally attacked. I think he believed I blamed myself enough that I would leave her be, and not put her in further danger by inserting myself into her life. He didn't understand that I could no more stay away from her than I could stop breathing. She was my air, I would die without her.

I set her up with one of the Lenape families for the time being. We are not established as married so it is not appropriate for her to lodge up with me. I will stay in another _wigwam_ with my father and brother, we would discuss Alice and I having our own at a later date.

"That girl is haunted." my father tells me when he finally catches me alone outside. "You should not have removed her from the Cameron's care."

"She was not recovering at their farm, father." I respond. "She has taken to wandering at night. I can't leave her in a place where I can't keep an eye on her."

"Uncas," My father sighs; I fold my arms in front of me as I regard him. I am trying very hard not be disrespectful but his lack of understanding is hard for me to stomach. "That girl is haunted because of _you._"

I start to walk away but he grabs my upper arm to stop me.

"I don't say this to punish you." He clarifies. I stop and face him again though I cannot keep either the pain nor the anger off my face. "You love her, fine. Love her your whole life if you must but let her go. "he continues. "You can't exist between two worlds, son, any more than she can."

"You want me to leave her to _that_ world?" I counter angrily. "To a world that beats and rapes its own women as some kind of…punishment? She can't exist _there_ any better, father. She's deaf; as far as they're concerned she's damaged twice over now. You really think she's better off in the white man's world?"

He says nothing to this. There is nothing to say and I turn to walk away from him because I am too angry to continue the conversation.

When I see Alice again at super she has dispensed with her British dress for the more practical Lenape garb. The other women look upon her as a living doll that they can dress and care for, braiding her moon pale hair and making sure she is occupied. Alice doesn't seem to mind this and I am pleased to see some color coming back into her face.

After supper, When we are about to part for the night, I explain to her that we will leave early the next morning and that the walk to the winter camp will be long and have infrequent breaks. She nods and as I look into her eyes as I hear my father's words echoing in my mind.

'_That girl is haunted because of you_.'

I reach out to cup her cheek in my hand and she looks a little surprised at the sudden motion.

"I would have stopped what happened if I could have." I tell her ardently. Her eyes soften as she covers my hand with her own.

"It is not your fault that I walked into the Corwin's trap." she signs back after studying me for a moment. "That was _my_ choice and _my_ mistake. You cannot own the guilt for that."

"No, but it is partially my fault that it happened." I sign back glumly. Her face hardens at these words and she pulls back from me, suddenly angry.

"You listen to me, Fox, and you listen closely." she signs rapidly, blue eyes flashing with temper. "I do not regret one _minute_ I have spent with you from the moment we met." Her hands are moving so quickly with the emotions she's feeling that I have to watch them closely just to follow what she is saying.

"If I had to face those bastards a thousand times over just to be with you I would do it because I _love_ you. So don't you tell me this is your fault because I won't hear a word of it!" She finishes firmly.

I walk forward and take her face in my hands and I kiss her. She kisses me back desperately and when we part I realize, rather sheepishly, that we have an audience. The women giggle behind their hands and the men give enthusiastic calls from around the supper tent. Alice laughs for the first time since the accident, genuine laughs that actually reach's her eyes, and I am happy to see her amused again.

We part with flushed faces, trailing ours hands on each other's arms as we walk away from each other. Her eyes hold mine as we walk to opposite ends of the camp and for the first time in a week, I feel hopeful again.

Authors note:

(Well, I got her to the Lenape camp finally. Only took me like …15 chapters :P but she's there. Probably still have a few more Uncas POV's before I switch back again. Thanks for reading and reviewing guys, it helps.)


	16. Chapter 16-Words are Mostly Noise

We set out early the next morning, a caravan of men, women, and children. Alice walks next to me for most of that first day, doing anything that is asked to without question. I worry that the pace and duration of the journey will take its toll on someone unaccustomed to 'roughing it' in the wilderness. She does remarkably well, my rabbit, never complaining nor showing any sign of wanting to stop.

The journey, however, was not without its issues, and they began to show themselves the first night that our caravan stopped to make camp. Sleeping during a trek to anywhere leaves little room for private sleeping arrangements. We roll ourselves into furs and sleep in family units but those family units also back up to other family units so everyone ends up sleeping together more or less.

Alice and I are across camp from one another, her bedding down with the other unmarried girls and I with the other unmarried men. That is how we go to sleep anyway. I am awoken late in the night by a shuffling at my back and jump upward, whirling around with the tomahawk I kept nearby to find Alice curled up behind me, asleep. I gape at her for a moment before gently shaking her awake. She starts to see me there, sitting up to stare around her in confusion.

"What are you doing over here?" I sign, not speaking so I don't wake the other men snoring around us. Alice shakes her head.

"I don't know," she signs back "I don't remember coming here."

I sigh and help her to her feet, returning her to her own bedroll. I cover her with the furs and kiss her forehead before rising to return to my own furs but she grabs my hand as I am leaving.

"What's happening to me, Fox?" she signs, face drawn in confusion. "I've never wandered at night before. What does it mean?"

I settle next to her again, holding her hand in mine and pushing the pale hair back from her face. I wish I had answers for her but I do not.

"You went through a pretty trying ordeal." I sign to her after a moment. "We can't expect all of that to go away this soon."

"I do not wish to cause you trouble." she signs with a worried face. "Your father is not happy that I am here. He watches me so intensely and I can see the disapproval in his eyes."

I set my jaw but manage to smile at her reassuringly.

"It not _you_ he's unhappy with, it's me. He would have had me leave your life completely." I sign to her briskly. "I think he is watching for signs that he is right in that regard."

"Should I not have come?" Alice signs anxiously. I cover her hands with mine and cup her cheek with one hand.

"I would not have left you behind." I mouth to her. "My heart is with you. I go where you go"

She studies me for a moment then darts forward to wrap her arms around my neck, hugging me. I hold her tightly to me for a moment longer before laying her back down and returning to my own bedroll. For the rest of that night, at least, she stays where I leave her.

The next night however, I awake again to find her curled up behind me. I sigh, heft her into my arms and take her back to her own furs but a few hours later, I awake to find her once again curled behind me. It becomes an almost nightly routine for us that I awake to find her in my bedding, return her to hers, and have her return to mine again. After about a week of this I give up, I let her stay with me and deal with the good natured jabbing from the other men and looks of disapproval from the Elder women.

I do notice some improvement in Rabbit during that first week. She fades into one of her 'fogs' less often than she did at the Cameron's. I am only summoned by one of the women once or twice in that week to draw her out again. I begin to notice patterns to her 'fogs' and I learn to counteract them. They seem to occur most often when she is feeling unsafe.

I figure this out when our caravan enters the outskirts of enemy territory and we face a minor scrimmage with some dog soldiers. They are easily enough dispatched with minor injuries to our own people but Alice is soon found curled on the ground in a fetal position, at first leading me to fear she is shot. There is not a mark on her however. I pull her into a sitting position and make her look at me, my hands on either side of her face.

"Come back, Rabbit." I command, gently. "It's safe now, come back."

She does, after a few moments, blinking and taking in my face with a start. She looks around wildly, still expecting gunshots.

"What has happened?" she signs desperately, spinning to and fro as though searching for danger.

"They're gone, it's over." I sign back when I can focus her. She sits back on her heels looking embarrassed and a little frightened.

"It happened again, didn't it?" she asks. I pat her shoulder reassuringly.

"It's all right. It's safe now." I promise, drawing her back to her feet. She huddles in on herself, frowning. It is anything but all right for her, I suspect. I stay near her the rest of the day and awake at night when I feel the shuffle behind me as she settles against my back.

I roll in my furs to look at her sleeping face, at her hands cured gently against her face and pull the furs up higher on her shoulders. Then I take her fingers between mine and go back to sleep, content at least that if she is going to wander, at least she wanders toward me. After the small scrimmage with dog soldiers I make a consistent effort to stay near her during the day and find, remarkably, that her bouts of 'retreating' all but vanish.

The other women are fond of her and her of them. They look after her when I cannot and learn to maneuver around the trauma she still has from the attack. As we draw closer to where the Lenape will make their winter camp I am encouraged by the women, as well as the men, to build a _Wigwam_ for the two of us. They are growing tired of having to be mindful of the moon haired girl in what is supposed to be _their_ part of the night camp.

I am thinking about this suggestion on the day that Alice's progress takes a sudden and large step backwards. I am not near her when it happens; I am discussing a hunting route with my brother and the other men when a general cry goes up from the back of the caravan. I hear my name being called and, thinking Alice has retreated into herself and alarmed one of the younger girls, I do not rush as I might have otherwise.

As I approach, I see a group of women gathered. They are talking in hushed voices to one another and a few have their hands pressed over their mouths. Looking at them, I begin to feel the first prickle of alarm. They part as I come closer, giving me room until I can see Alice, cradled in the arms of two older women who are trying to bring her around.

She has collapsed in the path with a sizable puddle of blood on the ground between her legs; it has soaked the bottom of her dress and stains the inside of her thighs. I rush to her, removing Alice from their arms and taking her into my own.

"Alice!" I shout, forgetting she cannot hear. I pat her deathly pale cheek and when this yields no reponse I look to the women who watch us with their wide, frightened eyes.

"What happened?" I bark at them. I am vaguely aware that someone has run to retrieve the medicine man.

"She said she was feeling unwell and then she just began bleeding." one woman tells me. "The next minute she just collapsed.

The medicine man arrives a few moments later and we move Alice to a campfire that is hastily made. I am shooed away so he and the women can see to her. It turns out that the bleeding is not nearly as bad as it had first appeared. The suddenness of it is what caused her collapse, not the bleeding itself. She comes around fairly quickly and that is when I learn the exact nature of the bleeding.

"It was a failed pregnancy." the medicine man tells me, thinking that I am the one responsible for impregnating her. "The stress of the travel is most likely what caused it. She should be fine to travel in the morning, she was not far along."

I listen to this mutely. After the attack, Dr. Phelps had told us to be vigilant for signs of pregnancy. I had forgotten his words until this moment and feel sick to my stomach. I know that she would not have wanted a child from such a brutal coupling but I have no idea what this new development with do to her already precarious mental state.

The medicine man pats my shoulder, taking my look of horror as dismay that she has lost _my_ child. I can only stare at him numbly as he continues.

"Do not worry," he reassures kindly. "She is young, she will bear other children. These things happen sometimes."

I just nod to him; I cannot speak through the dryness of my throat. He tells me he has given her a draft to help her sleep and then leaves me to my chaotic thoughts. I mutely walk to sit by her side. She is not so deathly pale now; pink is returning to her cheeks. I stay by her side, watching her and trying to decide what I am going to say when she awakes.

I had hoped that everything that transpired with William and his friends was behind us. She had been making slow but steady progress toward recovery. How far back would this set her now? Several hours later, her eyes open and blink up at me. I am the first one she sees and her eyes look hollow as they stare back into mine.

"It was a miscarriage, wasn't it?" she signs with trembling hands.

I kneel next to her and take her hand, nodding mutely. Her face tightens and she looks away from me toward the firelight.

"It is not enough that they take something from me that can't be replaced," she signs as though talking to herself "but even now they still manage to hurt me."

"I'm sorry Rabbit," I sign to her solemnly. "I hoped that…" I can't finish the sentence.

She says nothing and shuts her eyes, shutting out the world and shutting me out. As the Medicine man predicted, she is well enough to travel the next morning but I see the signs of new retreat in her. She is withdrawn after the miscarriage, she stops communicating with anyone but me and even that is limited. I do not think it is because she lost the pregnancy. I think it is because she begins to feel as though she is being punished for something, as if there is some invisible entity with an accusatory finger pointed right at her.

Three days after the incident I know that something must be done or she will retreat so far into herself that even _I _can't bring her out again. It is my father strangely enough that gives me the idea to take her around the horses. He has seen my drawn and worried expression He has seen her robotic movements and empty eyes.

"She has forgotten herself in all this." He tells me quietly when he catches me staring at her worriedly from across the camp. "Remind her of who she is."

"And who is she?' I ask bleakly. My father shoots me a knowing glance.

"Horse dancer." he answers before walking away.

So I take his advice, after all it can't hurt. I walk to her side, take her elbow gently in my hand and help her up. Alice walks numbly as I lead her to where the horses are kept at the back of the caravan. I take her to one horse in particular, the same horse she tamed at the beginning of summer. He knows her still, his ears go up and he neighs welcomingly at the sight of her.

I take her limp hand and I place it on his flank. At first she has no reaction to this; she simply stares at her hand as though she doesn't really see it. The horse, who she named 'trouble' back when I first brought her to the camp, turns to nuzzle her face gently. She blinks, surprised as he puffs some air into her face.

Slowly, like someone coming out of deep water, I see her begin to emerge from her self-imposed shell. I see her hand come up to his nose. I see her smile just barely at him. Then the horse jumps to the side, looking back at her, waiting her for to do their dance. She follows him, robotically at first and them with more purpose and I smile as I watch them play 'tag'.

I watch the horse begin to do what my father suggested he would, he began to draw her out. So, every day after that, until we reach the final campsite, I bring her to the horse. Every day they do this dance until one day he has her laughing, he has her eyes lighting up with life as they chase and play. Finally, after days of minimal communication, she turns to see me standing there, as I have since this began and I see her smile. It is as though she hasn't seen me for a very long time and is waiting for me. I walk toward them slowly smiling in relief. Somehow, 'Trouble' has brought her back to both of us.

Author's note:

(I just realized that I'm heading toward the end of this story, I kind of snuck up on me. This is yet another scene I struggled with because I didn't know what I was going to do.

Originally, I was going to have her get briefly nabbed by some other tribe and Uncas was gonna go find her and them she was gonna bash some guys head in with a rock… but that felt like _too_ much, considering what's already happened. Even the miscarriage felt like a bit much so I compromised by toning that sequence down, making her recover quicker and not really focusing too much on the loss of the baby.

From here on out, it's happier stuff. In fact, tomorrow's chapter may even have a sex scene depending on where I get to in my narrative. (Yep, sexy times are coming. She needs a better experience than the three hooligans left her with) It will be back to Alice's POV tomorrow too. You'll get to see what's been going through her head this whole time

Back on songs that remind me of LOTM, here's a few that come to mind:

I love you-Tanita Takiram (this sounds like Cora and Duncan which I know doesn't make sense because of the name but listen to it, it really makes me think of Cora when she thinks about Duncan)

20,000 seconds- K's choice (it's a sweet song, makes me think of movie Alice when they're at the fort and Uncas isn't nearby)

Mockingbird-Rob Thomas (Mostly an Uncas song, especially when everything seems to be against them.)

I'll set you free-the Bangles (Cora and Alice, I hear this mostly when their at the fort and not seeing the boys all the time…trying to let them go and not being able to do it)


	17. Chapter 17-Distance is finger-lengths

I do not remember most of what happened to me in the Corwin's sitting room. This is both a blessing and a curse in a way; if I remembered perhaps, closure would have come quicker for me. What I _do_ remember, is William striking my head against the floor and the world disappearing in a wash of pain. I remember coming out of the darkness just long enough to feel my body racked with agony, and a steady, painful pressure between my legs before I am pulled under again.

My next memory is Uncas horror filled eyes staring back into mine. I open my eyes, fighting for air, to see anger, misery, and guilt stealing over the handsome features I have come to love so much. Despite the pain that wracks every inch of my body, I want to take that self-blame from his eyes. I tell him that I was foolish, he tells me that no, that it is his fault. I try to tell him that I love him but I lose his eyes, I sink back into the darkness and leave him behind.

There is nothing but blackness after that, a buoying feeling of suspended animation where I know nothing for long periods of time. A sensation draws me out of this feeling of weightlessness, a tapping that periodically arises on the palm of my hand or the flesh of my upper arm. I cannot account for the feeling at first, but eventually I realize that someone was trying to 'speak' to me.

That was when I begin to fight, when I begin to try and escape the warm dark prison I have become encased in. It is like a sea of dark water in which I float. If it is, in fact, water, I reason that I can swim for the surface. That is what I begin to do, push myself up through the darkness that wants to hold me. I know when I am about to break through because I feel him. I feel his lips on my forehead, my fingers; I feel him holding my hand and I know, even though I cannot hear it, that he is calling for me. I break through the darkness to find him and I don't think he will ever know that it is _he_ that drew me out of that comforting dark place.

When I see his face it is so drawn and tired, he looks as though he has barely slept in days. There are tears on his cheeks as I tell him that his skin is weeping. Such an odd thing to say but it slips out before I can stop my hands. He kisses me and I ask him what happened to me. I try to pull up the memory but it makes my head hurt. He tells me not to think about it. I know something awful has happened because of the pain I see lining his features. There is more to this story than the beating I endured.

It is the doctor that tells me about the rape. He is kind, sympathetic, but he doesn't understand that there is no kind way to tell a woman her virginity has been ripped from her. I never put much stock in my own virtue, never cared for the idea flung around by the nobility that a woman must be completely preserved for one man, but having it so violently pulled from me is inconceivable. Uncas holds my while I sob, holds me until I fall asleep and manage to forget for a short time that I am now more damaged than ever.

When I return to life at the Cameron's, I feel frightened. I do not tell anyone this, I keep it to myself, but I find that I am wary at every moment. I do not tell them about the flashbacks because I do not want them to worry, but it does no good when they cause me to lose time. The first time this happens I am playing with Lucy and then I am suddenly back in the sitting room. I am throwing a chair at William, I am striking Andrew with a vase, and I am hammering on the window.

Suddenly, I am violently pulled back to reality. Uncas is before me, his features scared as he tells me that I was staring blankly down the road. I try to tell him no, that I was playing with Lucy but I suddenly cannot remember what we were doing. The doctor was concerned about just such a symptom and so he is called once again to examine me. He finds nothing, and I say nothing.

Life goes on, as best it can. Then I begin to wake up in strangest places, the barn loft, the middle of the room, and finally down by the creek. Poor John has the unhappy luck to find me. He startles me awake and at first I think that he is William, come to have me one more time. I flail, I flee from him; It takes him a long time to make me see it is him and not William before me.

Uncas takes me away after that, to the Lenape because he thinks it will help. It does in a way but I think what he didn't understand was that it was _him_ that I needed all along. It was _him_ that my subconscious sought out when I would sleep walk, it was only _him_ that could draw me out of the flashbacks. I figure this out when I subconsciously end up in his sleeping furs night after night. I figure this out when the enemy dog soldiers attack our caravan and I retreat into myself out of fear, until _he_ is there to draw me out again. I need him to keep me grounded, he is my safety, and he is my home.

Everything seemed to change when I had the miscarriage. I remember feeling ill and dizzy. I remember every smell from the forest being amplified and flooding my nose. I remember stumbling in the path and being caught up by two women, a gushing between my legs, and then a roaring dizziness that had me collapsing between them. I knew nothing else until I awoke a short time later. No one has to tell me what happened, I already know. I know that those bastards left something behind in my belly and that I had somehow destroyed it.

I would not have wanted a child from such a brutal encounter but I cannot help feeling a strange sense of loss as well. Is that what it means to be a woman? That even when we are saddled with something we never would have wanted, we still feel its loss as though we did? How odd that everyone should look at me with so much sympathy for that child's loss, it would not be until later that I would learn they thought the baby was Uncas.

He comes to me with numb, misery filled eyes. I ask him for confirmation of what I know and he gives it. I am silenced with a strange sort of grief. William and his friends took the only thing I had to offer Uncas and replaced it with something that I could not ever hope to love…but I would have tried. Does that make me insane? Does that make any sense at all, that I would grieve for the loss of a child I never wanted in some minute way?

I retreat from the world after that. I hide within myself, holding my trauma in my hands like a living thing. I do not so much grieve for the loss of a baby I didn't want so much as I grieve for the loss of my self-worth. The rape left me feeling filthy and ill-used, the miscarriage left me feeling worthless and empty. Even Uncas cannot draw me out now. I am no good for him, I am damaged. He should find someone else.

One day, sometime after the miscarriage, I have lost all sense of time…he comes to me and takes my hand. I let him pull me to my feet, I let him lead me by the elbow, but I do not look at him. He guides me to a place that I do not take in; he places my hand on something that is soft and course at the same time. I feel a puff of air on my face and slowly, curiously, I poke my head out of its shell.

Big, brown horse's eyes stare back at me. Trouble, the horse I named so long ago, stares back at me. I bring my cold, numb hand up to his nose and he nuzzles my face. I cannot help but smile at him just a little. Suddenly, the solidness of his nose under my palm if gone, Troubles darts ahead, peeking back at me, wanting to play.

I follow him mechanically; a part of me that has not completely folded begins to emerge. I know this dance; we did this dance that first day. We did this dance when I drew him out of his shell. How fitting that he would do the same to draw me out of mine. For four days we do this same dance. For four days, he flees from me and I give chase. For four days I emerge a little bit more until I finally come out of my self-imposed darkness. I come out of it laughing, imagine that! The horse finally approaches and nuzzles my face, I hug him, weeping.

His big eyes look at me as if to say 'Welcome back, we missed you'. We, I know who the other person is in this formula. I turn slowly to look for him and I see him standing some distance away. I see him and realize he has been there every day, waiting for me. I smile at him and he smiles back before making his way over to us.

Trouble does not move in front of me protectively as he has done with other men, he watches Uncas approach us with a calm, steady gaze, as though he knows this man would never harm me. It is a testament to the kind of man Uncas is, if a wild horse with no love of anyone save me lets him near. He stops next to Trouble's head, I stand on the opposite side, and miraculously he lays a hand on the horse's snout. Trouble throws some hair out of his eyes and swings one dark eye Uncas' way.

"Thank you," I see him mouth to the horse, who pushes his snout into Uncas shoulder affectionately "for bringing her back to us."

The horse steps back and moves behind me, giving me a gentle push in the small of the back toward Uncas. I move so quickly that I stumble into his arms and we laugh as Trouble saunters off to graze, his work finished. Uncas pushes the hair back from my face and stares back at me with love and relief.

"Marry me," his lips say suddenly "be my wife."

It is such an odd thing to say when I have retreated from him for so many days and yet it feels the most appropriate thing he could say at this moment. I stare back into his dark eyes, set into a kind and tender face, and wonder that I have fought the very notion for so long. That girl that valued freedom and choice, viewing marriage as a chain to bind her, was left behind back on the trail. Uncas would never confine me, never take choice from me. I just wish I had seen it weeks ago.

"You don't mind that I come to you broken, with little knowledge of how a Native girl is to behave?" I sign, smiling at him gently. He takes my face in his hands and rubs his thumbs along my cheeks tenderly.

"You were never broken to me," his lips say "I loved you from the first."

I place my hands on his chest, feeling the hardness of his chest through the tunic top.

"You don't mind that the one thing I had to give you at marriage is gone?" I sign, wanting him to be sure before I accept. His hands lower from my face to hold my hands against his chest. I tilt my head to the side, studying the graceful rise of his eyebrows over his open and honest eyes.

"I want you," his lips say, moving with a softness that would indicate whispering "in any form that you come to me. Deaf, broken as you put it, altered…I love all of you."

"Well, then, sir," I sign as I step closer, until our bodies are almost pressed together. Our faces are close enough to touch. "I accept"

Then I close the distance between us and kiss the man that will be my husband. He pulls me in against him, wrapping his arms around me, and I feel Troubles hooves pounding the earth as he races in happy circles around us.

Authors note:

(Ok, Obviously I didn't get to the sex scene today. That happy chapter will be for tomorrow and I will probably blush the entire time I write it because this whole thing is in first person point of view XD

But I promised sexy times and sexy times there will be!

Also I'm working on a premise for another fic that I might want to write. I notice that the majority of stories on this site are romance, and that is awesome because writing romance for Alice and Uncas is fun…buuuuuuuut how would you guys feel about a horror/Romance story? I've been told I wrote scary stuff pretty well and I have a pretty good idea forming for a new story. I would like to try my hand at it if you guys think that's something you'd be willing to read.

Anyway, reviews are always helpful; tell me what you think about this proposed story idea?)


	18. Chapter 18-Heat

**Warning: Sexually explicit content ahead.**

Uncas and I did not 'marry' immediately, that was impossible while traveling with a constantly moving caravan. Once we arrived at out destination, and Uncas estimated that we would in a day or so, he would build us a _wigwam _of our own and we would declare ourselves. I am pleased with this arrangement and my happiness must show on my face. When Uncas returns me to the other women so that he can go hunting, the tribal women surround me.

They have watched me emerge from my shell day by day and as Uncas drops a kiss on my head and departs, an older woman comes forward to cup my cheeks and study my face. Her eyes are kind, gentle, as she pats my cheek and signs 'Welcome back, child' to me.

At dinner that night, Uncas and I inform his father of our intentions. I can only describe Chingachgook's face as resigned, as though he has expected this. He is in no way impolite to me, his actions, when he embraces me, are tender but I can feel skepticism in him that we will be unable to pull off such a union. I do not immediately appreciate this concern until later that night.

Sleeping in family groups means that there is no privacy of _any_ kind. I knew this going in but I think my excursions into Uncas sleeping furs during the night spared me from what it _actually_ meant. I lay awake, childishly planning our life together, when movement down the line of sleeping bodies catches my attention. I see a head thrown back, eyes half shut and mouth open in silent ecstasy. I don't understand what I am seeing so I scoot forward in my furs to get a better picture of what is going on over on the other end of the tent.

What I see makes me blush and cover my mouth so I do not gasp too loudly. A girl, who is about my age, and one of the braves from the unmarried male's tent, are locked in a sensual embrace a few people down from me. They are covered by the furs so I cannot see their union in vivid detail but I have no illusions about what they are doing.

I am no stranger to what is supposed to happen in the marriage bed, though my father and sister tried their best to shield me from anything they considered sinful. Even before my brutal experience back in the town I had chanced upon couples once or twice back home. Living in a house with many servants, it was not unheard of for a couple to be caught in acts of passion. As a girl, I once walked into the barn to find one of our servant girls locked in such an embrace with a stable hand.

I remember feeling confused as to what they were doing, not understanding how she could look like she was in pain yet appear so happy at the same time. This situation was much the same and I find myself darting my head down before they turn to see me watching them. I curl into a ball in my sleeping furs with the realization that I will be expected to do this with Uncas once we are officially united. I honestly do not know how I feel about that.

I know he would never force me, never put me in a situation where I felt unsafe, that was not my concern. My concern was being able to perform in this avenue at all. I realize that this is what Uncas father was probably concerned with…my ability to be a wife to him. I turn my head back to look at the couple as the male rolls and the girl comes up on top of him. The furs fall away to reveal her naked form in the fading camp fire light and I swallow reflexively.

I watch his hands come up to cup her pert breasts, I watch how he plunges upwards with his hips and I shut my eyes in a mix of embarrassment and rising heat. Trying to imagine Uncas and I like that is odd for me. We have done little more than kiss; we have certainly never done…that.

I open my eyes again to see the girls hands steal between her legs, her fingers moving as he moves. I take in a sharp intake of breath and roll over, unable to watch anymore, though the scene continues to play out in my head. What exactly was she doing, I wonder?

I was taught never to touch that part of myself unless it was for cleanliness purposes. It is a rule I have followed my entire life. Whatever the girl is doing, it threw her head back and opened her mouth in what I could only assume was inarticulate pleasure. Was this some key to lovemaking that I had yet to learn?

I take a deep breath and, blushing, lower my hand down toward my own 'forbidden area.' I slowly touch a finger to what I find there. Nothing happens, no explosion or ecstasy. In fact, all I feel is soft flesh. Narrowing my eyes and tightening my jaw, I move my fingers upward. Between the hooded folds I find a bundle of skin that I rub my finger against hesitantly. A jolt goes through my legs and I jump, quickly removing the finger and feeling disgusted with myself. Really, what am I doing?

I pull my hand against my chest and let out a shaky breath, feeling uncertain. After a moment I turn over and see that the man has left sometime during my shameful touching of myself and the girl has already curled up and gone to sleep. I feel restless now, having witnessed their union and after a long time of staring at the back of her dark head, I push out of my furs and leave the _wigwam_ behind.

I wander for a time before making my way to the men's tent. I end up, as I always do, crawling into Uncas sleeping furs. He is so used to my doing this that he doesn't even wake up. He simply rolls over and instinctually pulls me in against him. I study his sleeping face in the glow from the camp fire, the long slope of his nose, the strong chin, and the lips that I know so well. I begin to wonder if I'll ever be able to please him when it comes to intimacy.

I have no schooling in that area and my only real experience to date had been awful. How could I hope to make him happy? I squeeze my eyes shut and fight the urge to cry. I do not sleep well that night and it shows on my face in the morning. Uncas asks after me but I do not tell him what is troubling me. I can't bring myself to have that conversation. I fear the marriage bed for obvious reasons but I do not fear _him_, it is a strange dichotomy. Because I am thinking on it, I soon start to see sex everywhere.

I see couples sneaking off when we stop for lunch with expectant, heat filled expressions. I see the couple from the night before grinning at one another from across the cook fire and I even see some insects coupling on a tree. I frown at the basket I am trying and failing to weave and feel ill at ease with the world.

We reach the camp in two days' time, as Uncas predicted we would, and we reach it in some of the worse weather possible. It begins to rain as the caravan stops to begin building _wigwams_. It is a slow, cold drizzle that normally appears at the beginning of winter and threatens snow once the temperature drops below freezing.

Everyone works quickly to get the structures up when the drizzle begins and by the time the leathers are tied in place, we are all soaked to the bone in the cold rain. The wind picks up around this time, blowing the rain into our faces and backsides as we struggle to secure the hides to the structure.

Somehow, Uncas finds me the blowing wind and rain, helping me hold a hide in place while I try to tie it with my numb fingers. The wind blows his hair into my face, a wet dark slap against my cheek. His fingers find mine and help me finish tying the hides in place and he blanches at how cold they are.

"You need to get inside." I see his lips shouting at me. I shake my head.

"No, we need to finish this." I sign back. I am trembling with the cold and my legs are beginning to feel numb. He pushes my wet hair from my face and frowns.

"You lips are going blue, Rabbit." his lips say to me as he reaches around to finish tying the lacings himself. When this is done he takes my hand and pulls me toward the _wigwam_ that is going to be ours. I think there is usually some ritual to this, a sending off of sorts to a new couple, but as everyone is retreating from the rain there isn't time.

He lifts the flap and users me inside, before climbing in behind me. There is a cheerful fire already burning in the middle and the hides keep the warmth locked in. He sits me near the fire and piles furs around me but frowns when I continue to shiver.

"You probably want to take that wet dress off." he informs me. I try but my limbs are so numb that I can't seem to do it. He ends up having to help me pull the sodden thing over my head. It is an intimate act but he doesn't seem that concerned with my sudden nakedness as he pulls the furs back around my shoulders.

I feel myself growing drowsy despite the cold and when he sees my dropping eyelids, his brow furrows. He comes over to take one of my hands out of the furs and frowns more deeply when he still finds it too cold. I watch him blearily as he gives a curt nod and begins to pull off his own clothes. If I was not feeling so drowsy and numb perhaps I would have questioned what he is doing but I feel I can barely keep my eyes open.

I must have dozed off while sitting up because the next thing I feel are his arms wrapping around me as he climbs under the mountain of furs with me. I feel the solidness of his chest at my back and the radiating heat from his body as it tries to warm mine. He turns me in the furs so that he can see my face and pats my cheeks to wake me up.

"Don't go to sleep yet, Rabbit." he signs to me when he has my attention.

"Why?" I sign back drowsily.

"Because you're near hypothermic, you need to stay awake until you're warm." His lips respond.

I nod and he pulls me in against him, I nuzzle in against his neck and watch the dancing glow of the fire. For a time I just enjoy the warmth of him, but as I come out of the near hypothermic state he says I was heading toward, I begin to truly appreciate the intimacy of our situation.

I can feel my breasts pressing up against his chest and his long legs stretched out under mine. I find that he is holding me in his lap, or near to it. As I shift minutely I feel a slight hardening of the male part of him that rests against my hip. I gasp a little and he looks down at me with questioning eyes, I don't think he knows I felt that.

"Better now?" his lips ask. I nod, unable to speak.

I feel my heart starting to race and I think he feels it too because his eyes narrow in confusion. I feel heat rising in my face at his closeness and an image comes to my mind of the couple locked in the sensual embrace. I look away from his face as I try to gather my thoughts but he turns my face back up to his.

"Are you alright?" he signs to me.

I do not know how to answer this as I stare up into the handsome face I have come to love so much. I feel something akin to desire dancing in my stomach and in lieu of everything that has happened to me, I do not know what to do with it. I decide in that moment that I want to lay with him. I want to lay with him here and now but I don't have any idea how to initiate such things.

I still feel him against my hip, just the slightest stirring when I fidget. Swallowing on a suddenly dry throat I trail a hand down from where they were gathered near his chest to tentatively touch him. He jumps when my fingers make contact, grabbing my wrist and pulling my hand away. I feel stung by this and look at him in surprise.

"What are you doing?" his lips ask, not harshly but with obvious confusion.

I turn my eyes down, feeling embarrassed. Why did I think I could do this; that I would even know how? I feel tears in my eyes and I fight back a sob. My stiffening clues him in that something else is going on and he tilts my face up so I am looking at him. The obvious worry and tenderness draws a tear from me that he wipes away.

"Why are you crying?" his lips ask me "What is happening here?"

"I don't know how to do this." my hands tell him anxiously.

"Do what?" he asks shaking his head before realization dawns on him. "Wait, were you trying to…"

I pull away from him and cover my face with my hands. I am so embarrassed that I can't even look at him. After a moment he pulls my hands away and tries to peer into my face.

"Not that I'm complaining but where is this coming from?" he asks me. I fidget and look around the _wigwam_ before I can make myself look at him again.

"It's..I…I'm going to be your wife," I sign brokenly, nervously "I'm supposed to…"

I cannot form proper words with my hands and the more I try, the more jumbled and feeble everything becomes. Finally, he covers my hands to still them before he speaks.

"Forget what you're 'supposed' to do and tell me what you _want_?" he offers instead.

I blink at him and we both fall still. I know he was not rejecting me before; I merely startled him with my bumbling attempt to initiate intimacy. I look down at his hands over mine and then back at his face before I take a deep breath.

"I want _you_." I sign at him.

His expression is one I can only describe as careful. He studies my face to gauge the true meaning of my words before his hands come up to grip my face. I can feel the solidness of his fingers under my jaw.

"Rabbit, we don't have to do this right now, _especially_ if you're not ready for it." his lips say to me. I feel a smile coming over my face at the ardent tenderness of him. I reach up with one hand to cup his hand against my cheek and slowly remove it to press it against one pale breast. I feel his arm tighten at the contact with my skin, at the slight hardening of my nipple against his palm.

"I know." I sign after I release his hand. "I won't tell you I'm not _scared_ but what I _want_ is a pleasant sexual encounter with someone who loves me. _That_, I believe, I am ready for."

I close the distance between us and I kiss him. The kiss is something we have perfected because kissing was all we had for so long. I feel his quick intake of breath as my mouth meets his, the gentle, reflexive tightening of his fingers against my breast. I mold my lips to his in a way that is pleading, begging, asking him to give me something wonderful. I am asking him to drive out the ugliness, to drive out the sorrow. I am asking him to love me. He pulls back to look at me.

"You're sure?" he asks, tugging gently on a strand of hair that has fallen over my face.

I answer by crawling over and straddling myself in his lap. I feel that male part of him that had only been a little hard before, poking up between us. I reach a hand down between us and grasp him gently in my hand. He responds with a gasp, eyes filling with heat. I smile at him before darting back in and catching his mouth.

He pulls me against him and I can feel the moan that surges through him where his chest his pressed against mine. Our mouths and tongues do a desperate dance against one another as we gently fall to the floor of the _wigwam_. Uncas rolls over until he is on top of me and slowly begins to run his hands over my flesh.

He is tentative, gentle, as his hands cups and kneads my breasts. His hand glides down over my belly, down over the soft mound of hair to the place between my legs. I feel his long fingers gliding to where I was too nervous to go myself. I feel them moving and parting the folds, seeking the small bundle of nerves nestled inside, and then I feel him begin to rub.

It is an altogether different sensation than when I did this myself. He has me gasping and writhing, my head arching back against the fallen furs. His lips trail over my neck and collarbone as he takes a nipple into his mouth and rolls it. His fingers move against me expertly, playing my body like an instrument. When one of his fingers slips inside I feel my breathing coming in short gasps.

He captures my mouth again as he slides first one and then two fingers inside, moving rhythmically against my inner walls. I spread my legs wider for him; I open my mouth for his tongue as the pressure begins to build in a pleasing way deep inside. When the explosion of ecstasy hits, it rocks me backwards. If I had a voice I would have cried out. He holds me all the way through it and, when it is over, I feel a warm tingling glow spread throughout my whole body.

Uncas leans over me to smile into my face and I smile back at him languidly, brushing some stray hair out of his eyes. We study each other like this for quite a while, with my fingers trailing over his face, his jaw, and his lips. When they dance over the soft flesh of his lower lip he catches my index fingers and draws it into his mouth, sucking on it gently. I give a shaking breath at the sensation that it sends from the digit to my groin.

Uncas climbs on top of me and I open my legs for him. He looks down at me sheepishly, as though he is asking permission to enter where his fingers have already been. I grant permission with a soft smile and a kiss and ever so slowly, he slips inside.

This should have been my first union, not the violent one I endured at the hands of monsters. There is no pain with Uncas, no forcefulness. It is more like a puzzle piece being pressed into place. He belongs with me, here, like this. We both feel it, we both know it is true and as he begins to move and the pressure inside begins to build once again, I begin to let the harsh experience fall away.

Uncas is a gentle and patient lover, he does not move to fast or too slow. He watches my face for signs of how I am doing and as I get closer to release I hold him to me, burying my face against his neck. Uncas arms and body replace the feeling of Williams. Uncas scent and the gentle swell of him moving inside me replace the harshness of the rape. When I tilt over the edge he goes with me and we ride out that feeling together in a tangle of sweaty limbs and searching lips.

When it is over, he pulls the furs up around us and reverently kisses my face. He pulls my body in against his as we finally give into the exhaustion of travel coupled with the exhaustion of lovemaking. I fold into the warmth and safety of his arms and I fall into a deep, dreamless sleep that I have not enjoyed for a long time.

Authors note:

(Well, that was interesting. I've never written a sex scene in first person point of view before so this was new for me. It was also weird because 'set fire to the third bar' was playing in my head the whole time. It is a pretty sexual song and strangely fits the scene for me.

I'm not actually sure how many chapters we have left. At least two, before I'm done. I do kinda wish I could make this go on forever but there's not a lot of story left to tell, just a few loose ends to tie up. I need to tie up what happened with lady Corwin and the three assholes, the letter Alexandra sent Cora, and the reaction of Uncas and Alice returning to the Cameron's as a married couple in the spring. I'll start getting into all that soon.

In terms of the horror/Romance story…I have the bare bones of a plot forming but I need help from you guys. I know what scares me in terms of ghost stories, scary situations, things like that… but not what normally scares other people. So what I need from you guys are things in movies or books that have frightened you. I'm trying to put together the actual 'horror' part of my narrative and help in that department is greatly appreciated.

As always, thank you for the reviews and I hope you enjoy my sexually explicit chapter XD)


	19. Chapter 19-Everything Extraordinary

Our life in the Lenape winter camp moved into routine quickly enough. Uncas and I rise early, I cook our breakfast and then we parted ways outside the _wigwam_ for our various duties. His include hunting, trapping, and walking the surrounding perimeter; mine include the daily activities of a wife and working with the new horses the men trade for with neighboring camps.

We do not meet again until mid-day meal and then we steal to our _wigwam_ to glory in one another. I will forever remember those early days of winter as the most passion filled of my life. We can barely keep our hands from one another, falling to the dirt floor as we struggle out of our garments. He enters me as though he has longed to be there all day and I accept him with wild abandon, happy to have him near again.

Nights are just as passionate, full of teasing glances at the Night Meal and searching hands once we are under blankets at the nightly story. We are sitting around the large fire, wrapped together in a colorful blanket against the winter chill, as an Elder shares a story of the Lenape ancestors. Uncas fingers steal between my legs, searching, plunging, and working me into a barely contained frenzy. I struggle to keep my face and breathing still, shooting him a look from the corner of my eye that says '_you better be prepared to finish what you have started_.' His eyes promise me that and more once the story is finished.

When it does conclude, we nearly sprint for our _wigwam_, the flap not even falling into place before we are locked at the mouth, gasping against one another as he grabs the bottom of my dress and pulls it over my head, discarding it in a pile in the corner. I haul his shirt over his head and our lips meet again as I toss his shirt to join my dress.

He bares me to the floor, trailing his mouth along my jaw, my collarbone. His hands run over me as though he would touch all of me at once. We find new pleasure in those heat filled nights; there is not a part of each other we do not explore with hands, lips and tongues. I find a sweet torment in the feeling of his mouth against my warm center; the electrifying feeling of soft on soft, of his tongue moving languidly against tender flesh.

I am just as reverent of his body as he is of mine, discovering new ways to pleasure him as he does me. I trail soft kisses along the length of him, from base to shaft, circling the tip with my tongue until he cannot take anymore. Our lovemaking shifts from slow and tender to passionate and frenzied on those cold nights and we fall into exhausted sleep wrapped about one another. I never knew that lovemaking could be like this, not even in my wildest imaginings. We make each other's bodies sing with the hum of it and bring each other back to earth when it is done.

It is in late November when Nathanial leaves our camp to return to the Cameron's farm. He goes to take them news of my union with Uncas but also to see if there is any news from my sister. I think Uncas misses his brothers company in the month that he is gone, they are close friends as well as close siblings. I find I miss my sister during those winter months as well. We had been close since childhood, with Cora playing mother to me most of my life. I want her to meet my strong, handsome husband. I want her to know my new joy of life.

It truly is a joy. In those early winter months I begin to slough off the pain and trauma of the later summer and early fall months. I begin to replace the memory of violation and degradation with thoughts of my husband's body moving in mine. I replace memories of William and his friend's faces as they laughed at my fear with my husband's tender features as he studies my face after our passions are spent. I begin to heal.

Nathanial returns before the New Year bearing two pieces of news. The first is that Alexandra is with child again and that a letter has arrived from my sister, indicating she will be sailing to Albany in the coming months. I am thrilled with this news. If weather holds, Uncas and I can return in early spring, before the Lenape make their way back toward the colonies and I will be able to spend some time with her. The other piece of news he brings is both satisfying and alarming; that news is that Lady Corwin, her son, and his friends are dead.

"Dead?' I query, shocked at this news, how could all of them be dead? Not that I can say I am sorry to hear this revelation.

"Jack says it happened about two months ago, Ergot poisoning." Nathanial explains as Uncas and I gape at him in muted surprise.

"Wait, wait, wait…Ergot poisoning?" Uncas repeats, incredulity stealing over his features. "Ergot poisoning is a major threat, was the rest of the town affected?"

At this question Nathanial shoots us a look that says he knows more than he is actually saying. It is a long time before I can convince him to tell me everything that happened. I think he believes sparing me the details of my tormentor's fate is a kindness. To finally heal and receive finality with the whole sordid business, I need to know what happened in town.

He explains that the courts initially did what Jack suggested and sentenced the men to fifteen years apiece for rape and violence against members of the town, including myself. Lady Corwin was to face the same amount of time in jail, with no leniency, or this was what the town of Albany was led to believe.

The constable informed Jack of intentions on the parts of the nobility to smuggle all the perpetrators to Boston where they would be released to live amongst society again. In lieu of this knowledge, the working class men gathered one night and decided to take matters into their own hands. The local Baker mentioned a recent crop of wheat that had been harvested with signs of Ergot. He offered to use this same wheat to make bread meant specifically for the jail.

"Wait," I sign, shocked. "The _entire_ jail was subject to this?"

"Had to be," Nathanial's lips respond "If it was just those four that died, we would have been found out."

"We? _You_ were part of this plan?" I demand, shocked to my core that he took part in murder. Nathanial shoots a level gaze my way and I shake my head, unable to comprehend how he could do that.

"The people in that jail were in there for a reason, Alice." his lips tell me firmly "believe me when I tell you they won't be missed."

Then he tells me how the jail was served the Ergot laced bread over the month that he was gone. He explains how Andrew died from dehydration brought on by violent bouts of diarrhea. He explained that William had lost his mind, screaming gibberish day and night until he finally hung himself with a bed sheet. Drake died from bashing his head against the wall, claiming there were demons in his brain that only the stone walls could exorcise. Lady Corwin had simply gone into shock and convulsions, dying on the dirty cell floor. I feel sick to my stomach with this knowledge and I wish I had not asked. Nathanial sees my look of disgust and horror but there is no apology in his eyes, no regret.

"Uncas couldn't be involved." he tells me then. "It had to be done in a way where he couldn't be implicated, do you understand?"

"You would have done this regardless." I sign with sinking realization. "You would have killed them whether the plan to release them came to fruition or not."

"No one hurts my family." is his only response and he smiles at me tightly.

I do not tell Uncas what his brother reveals to me but I think he knows in some small way. I see him and Nathanial exchange knowing glances at night meal, nods of confirmation that _it_ is taken care of. When we return to our _Wigwam_ I lie with my husband and let his touch and body drive away my dark thoughts. I lay the Corwin's, Andrew and Drake to rest in my thoughts. I lay what they did to rest in my thoughts. I let them go.

Nathanial leaves again in late January to see if my sister has arrived and we plan to follow in a month, when the river begins to thaw. Poor weather ends up trapping us in camp; poor weather and something extraordinary. It happens one snowy day as I am ushering the horses into their makeshift pen. It happens on a day where I am not feeling particularly well. I woke up unable to stomach the smell of the corn porridge I prepared us for breakfast.

The nausea does not improve by midafternoon and brings with it a strange dizziness. I am just realizing the oddness of this feeling as I close the door to the stall. I remember turning to leave the area and my vision going gray. I do not remember fainting; I do not remember being returned to our _wigwam_ by the village men. I open eyes, a short time later, to the concerned faces of the medicine man and one of the Elder Women.

The medicine man asks me a set of questions that feel unrelated at first. He asks after my appetite, my sleeping, and my monthly bleeding. I have not bled this month but that is not unusual. I have never had a normal course and I tell him this. He asks how I felt this morning, what happened before I fainted, and, strangely, if my sense of smell has increased. I narrow my eyes at the last question; it is hard to answer as my sense of smell had always been heightened to compensate for my lack of hearing.

I explain that it is not so much increased as different. I explain that things have smelled _different _to me lately. Things that I enjoyed the smell of before now brought bile into my throat. The smell of fish in particular had been a problem for me of late. The medicine man sits back and smiles and then turns to says something to the Elder Woman. She too smiles as she turns back to me.

"He says you are with child." she signs to me happily.

I blink at them, unable to respond. I think that my brain loses the ability to function for several seconds. I am with child. This news should not have come as a surprise to me, Uncas and I retreated to our _wigwam_ to be together so frequently that I should have expected this. I lay a tentative hand on my stomach, looking down at it in wonder.

Uncas flies into our Wigwam soon after that, his handsome face twisted in worry. Someone had been dispatched to tell him of my faint and I suspect he has sprinted the entire distance back to camp in a panic. My wide, startled, eyes push his alarm deeper as he rushes to my side, studying my face and body for injury. He fires questions at the Medicine man who simply looks amused.

"What happened, they said you collapsed?" his lips ask as he stares concernedly back into my face.

"I did." I sign back, distractedly, still marveling at the life growing within me. Uncas frowns, not understanding and probably fearing I have fallen back into one of my spells.

"Why, what caused it?" he demands, looking around the room; looking at me, the medicine man, the Elder Woman.

"They say I am pregnant." I sign with a soft smile.

The medicine man and the Elder Woman depart as Uncas gapes at me in startled surprise. I smile back gently, a hand still pressed to my stomach. I watch the widest smile of joy cross his features as he gives a nervous laugh. My laugh joins his and he takes my face in his hands kissing me over and over again. I have only seen him this happy once before and that was when I agreed to come with him to the Lenape winter camp. He presses a hand over mine where it rests on my belly, staring in wonder. I know he will be a wonderful father and I tell him this, kissing him happily.

Chingachgook is also thrilled with our news; he has warmed to my presence more recently. I know he would have preferred his son marry a Lenape woman but he knows now that Uncas only ever had eyes for me. He is at peace with his son's choice at last.

My story started out simply enough. I came to the New World to pave out my own path. I did not come here expecting find love. I did not expect to find passion and a new way to hold the world aside from merely existing in it. My sister will ask me later if I regret my decision to come here; if I regret the events that have led me to where I am.

I smile and shake my head. I will tell her that everything that has happened led me to the man that loves and accepts me as I am. He has touched something in me, and because of that I let him love me with all the passion he has to offer. It is as simple as that. I look at my Uncas and I finally know all the beauty that life can hold for someone like me. I will let _that_ be my story.

Authors note:

(Don't worry; this is not that last chapter. I have an epilogue for you tomorrow…though this did get tied up much quicker than I expected it to. I thought I might be able to get one more longer chunk out of it but nope…they had lots of sweaty sex and then decided that was as much of this story as they were gonna give me. :p

I guess after this its back to 'coming back to you' unless I can tie together my plot for the horror/romance one. I still need some idea's guys. Thank you to Elan21 for the review yesterday and the suggestions. I'll give a quick run-down of what I'm thinking for this story.

What I have planned is to start it when they bed down at the burial site. They're going to wake up and head out but find that the road just keeps leading them back to the Cameron's cabin and no matter where they go, they can't seem to leave the two areas. Alice, for this story, is going to be hyper perceptive to the emotions of people around her, so much so that the events at Georges road really affect her. Whatever is in the new 'space' they find themselves in will toy with, feeding off whatever fear it can cause. This is where I need ideas for things that people find frightening. So anything you guys can offer would help

Ok, that's about it for today. Oh, her pregnancy induced faint actually happened to me, though mine was actually kind of funny. When I was 8 weeks pregnant I was working at a department store and I had really _bad_ morning sickness. I lost like 10 pounds in two weeks. This one day I was feeling _really_ bad, just nauseous and dizzy...it was awful. I had this customer that was haranguing me because her coupon couldn't be used for whatever it was she wanted.

Well, as she's lining me up for this and I can see my vision going grey around her. I even remember saying 'I'm going to pass out' while she's busy telling me how awful our store is. Halfway through this rant I fall over. You know what she did? She left. She just left me there, stomped off in a huff as though I _hadn't_ just passed out in front of her. It was the lady behind her that actually came around and helped me up and made sure I was ok. XD so that's the story I loosely based Alice's pregnancy faint on, just in case any one is curious. The smell thing was also totally me, I couldn't stand the smell of anything for the first 16 weeks.)


	20. Chapter 20-Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Uncas and I return to the Cameron's farm in April, almost a full year from the time I arrived in the New World. He watches me as though I am made of glass and will shatter at any moment. My pregnancy has been a hard one so I smile at him reassuringly as I lead Trouble behind me by his harness. Trouble became my horse when it became apparent that no one else in camp could hope to control him. The Lenape gave him to me as a parting gift when we left to return to the Albany area. We will see them in a month, when they return to their summer camping area.

The early pregnancy period has been awful for me, I am often sick and unable to get up let alone work. It scared Uncas a great deal in the beginning but his father has been helpful in that regard, telling him my sickness indicates I am carrying a strong boy. I think he may be right as I feel the child turn under my skin and give a little tremble before settling again. I have just started to feel his movements and each tug and kick fills me with an eager expectation to meet this life we have created together.

We come into view of the cabin and I smile in delight to see my sister hanging clean linens on the clothes line and chastising the children who are stomping in a puddle nearby. Lucy sees us before Cora does; I see her mouth open in a squeal of delight and my nickname fall from her lips. Cora turns in confusion and when she sees us she lifts her skirts and races to where we stand in the tree line.

I catch her, releasing a huff of air as she nearly knocks me over in her eagerness to embrace me. I laugh and cry and return my sisters embrace before I introduce her to my husband. I expect shock when she turns to take him in. I expect surprise at the very least. What I do not expect is the pleased smile that crosses my sister's pretty face.

"You look just as Nathanial described you." her lips say as she sticks out her hand to shake his, greeting him like a man. I raise my eyebrows at her words and the action.

"Nathanial has been here lately?" I question. We assumed he was on his way back to the Lenape winter camp. He has been gone longer than expected but with the weather being what it is, this is unsurprising.

"He's here _now_; we can't get _rid_ of him." Cora signs to me before placing her hands on her hips with a bemused smile. I see a gleam in my sister's eyes when she says this, her expression indicating pleasure at his continued presence despite her exasperated words. Uncas and I share the same look of surprise before my sister takes my arm and begins to lead me back toward the house.

"Is Duncan with you?" I suddenly think to sign. I have so many questions I want to ask her, this is just the first one to pop out. Cora draws her lips into a thin line and shakes her head. I see steel in her eyes at the mention of Duncan's name and quickly ask about it. Finally she sighs.

"I am done with Duncan. I called off the engagement before I left England." she signs angrily. I gape at her, shocked. She ended her engagement with Duncan? They had been sweethearts since childhood; Duncan loved her dearly, what could have happened to cause her to call everything off?

"Don't look at me like that." Cora signs with a scowl. "You weren't there when we received the letter detailing what happened to you, you didn't hear the awful things he had to say."

I stop walking to stare at her in hurt confusion. The thought of Duncan saying horrible things about me is inconceivable. He has never been anything but kind to me, even standing up for me to my father on occasion. Seeing my stricken expression Cora stops and looks apologetic.

"Oh, I'm sorry Alice," she apologizes as she takes my hand. "I just get angry when I think about it. Let's not speak on it right now.

I nod and let her take me into the cabin while Uncas leads Trouble to the pasture. We share a lingering gaze and a smile as his dark head vanishes over the hill and my sister pulls me through the door.

I am once again assaulted but, this time it is by a heavily pregnant Alexandra, who wraps me in her arms and begins firing off questions to me that I laugh and try to answer. We women end up at the table with mugs of steaming tea and I finally get to learn some of what has happened in my absence.

Cora tells of how she arrived at the Cameron's farm only to learn that I was far away, living with Uncas and the Lenape. She tells of how she decided to wait for me to return and how she has taken over my roll of looking after the children.

"They call her Otter." Alexandra giggles and Cora gives an amused smile.

"What is it with them and animal names?" I sign, laughing.

Alexandra tells me that Cora earned this nickname when little John fell through some ice in early winter and my sister had dove in after him, slicing through the water like …well, an Otter. When she popped back up through the hole with him, Lucy declared she looked like an Otter and the name had stuck.

We are laughing as the men come in and I watch in wide eyed amazement as Nathanial drops a kiss on my sister's dark head. Is she the reason he stayed away for so long? Is my sister to be the one who finally tames Nathanial Poe? Core looks up at him with such love that I nearly choke on my tea. Uncas looks just as confused and we share another bewildered look between us.

Cora tells me that night about what happened back home. About how my father read the letter from Alexandra detailing my ordeal and how he had declared me disowned. My heart is heavy but I expected no less from him. He has never cared for me; I think my rape was a good excuse for him to cut ties. I swallow any tears I might have shed and we move on.

She tells of how Duncan agreed with father's decision. How he declared that I deserved what I got for associating with savages. I do weep at this knowledge and Uncas comes from across the room to wrap his arms around me. I weep so often these days, the pregnancy wreaks havoc on my sensitivity. I pat his arm and suck back my tears. Cora pats my hand reassuringly.

"It's the best decision I ever made, coming here." Cora tells me after Uncas has assured himself that I am all right and returns to his conversation with Nathanial and John.

He will tell me later that they are talking about Jack, who apparently took a wife in my absence. I am happy for him; he deserves to be with someone who understands his love of politics. Nathanial glances at Cora with a heated gleam in his eyes and I see her eyes lower as a blush comes over her face. Her dark lashes brush her cheeks as she smiles back at him.

"You and Nathanial, huh?" I sign, grinning. She shoots me an answering smile.

"You and Uncas, huh?" she retorts and we laugh.

Uncas and I stay at the cabin through the spring. Cora and I help Alexandra through the birthing of her third child, a daughter named Isabel. Once hints of summer begin to crop up, the Lenape return to their summer camp and we, in turn return to them. Cora and Nathanial visit often and surprise us one day near early fall, when they declare they have eloped.

I am happy for my strong sister who has finally found her missing puzzle piece in this world. She and Nathanial build a cabin between the two camps and she is pregnant with their first child in a heartbeat. Cora is there to help me through the birthing of our son in October. He comes in the night, a surprisingly quick labor and delivery. He is all his father, long dark limbs and beautiful brown eyes, except for his nose; that is all me. His ears work perfectly it turns out, another curse broken.

We name him Jack, after the man who defended me and my choice to take a Red Man for my husband. He could have easily turned his back on us but he did not and for that we owe him a great deal of gratitude. Uncas and I have come full circle together. He loves me and I love him. We have a son that will be the best of both of us.

One evening when Jack is about three months old, Uncas comes to sit by me as I am arranging the baby in his basket. He takes my hand as we watch our small son sleep and I turn to smile at him.

"Are you happy, Rabbit?" he asks me with a tender smile. I pull his hand up to my lips and kiss each finger before smiling back at him.

"Yes, Fox." I answer as I lean over to kiss him. "I am very happy."

The kiss ignites our passion for one another and we fall to the floor of the _wigwam_ as we slide out of our garments and toss them aside. We touch each other reverently, worshipping each other's flesh with lips and hands. I look down the line of our bodies to where we connect and hold him to me tightly. This is life; this is what it means to truly live. Uncas and I will live and love and face life's challenges together. I kiss him with this certainty ringing in my head and we tumble headlong into our own little corner of forever.

Authors note:

There it is guys, the conclusion to Rabbit. Thank you all for reading and encouraging me to keep going with this. I had a ball writing it and it's spawned a different tale that I might start working on before diving into the horror/Romance one. (I need to take some time to think on the scary one before I commit it to paper) How do you guys feel about a modern Alice/Uncas love story? :)

Special thanks goes out to AccaliaSnape for listening to me ramble about my original content story so much, you're awesome! Also special thanks to Elan21, graciousplum, dearestAmy, clarine, AAA, Zihuatanejo, Dogoodgirl and Mohawk woman for your frequent reviews! (Also to anyone I might have missed in this but I think I got everyone) They help me know what people like and don't like in my writing so thank you so, so much for reading my stuff!

Hopefully I will see all you guys again as I go back to 'Coming Back to You' _and_ when I finally get (tentatively titled) 'Ali' uploaded.)


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